Google Ireland said it paid €28.6m
in Corporation Tax here last year, on a turnover of €18.3 billion.
The internet services giant has its Europe, Middle East and Africa
headquarters in Dublin.
The latest accounts show a rise in after-tax profits last
year, of €13.3m to €167.9m
18.3 billion turnover à 167.9 million declared profit à 28.6 million corporate tax
Google Ireland’s accounts showed some €12.5 billion from the revenues it booked in the Republic were siphoned off in administrative expenses, which included royalties’ paid to its own offshore companies. Google, like many other multinationals with operations in Ireland, has been criticized for using a web of international subsidiaries to route its global profits to tax havens. While legal, the complex structures mean companies can avoid paying taxes on all but a fraction of the amounts they earn outside their home territories. A recent study estimated the company was hoarding $45 billion offshore, although that figure was dwarfed by the $181 billion attributed to Apple.
18.3 billion turnover à 167.9 million declared profit à 28.6 million corporate tax
Google Ireland’s accounts showed some €12.5 billion from the revenues it booked in the Republic were siphoned off in administrative expenses, which included royalties’ paid to its own offshore companies. Google, like many other multinationals with operations in Ireland, has been criticized for using a web of international subsidiaries to route its global profits to tax havens. While legal, the complex structures mean companies can avoid paying taxes on all but a fraction of the amounts they earn outside their home territories. A recent study estimated the company was hoarding $45 billion offshore, although that figure was dwarfed by the $181 billion attributed to Apple.
That said;
let’s just look at the 12.5 billion in revenues for Google, booked in this
country and exported, wherever. If they paid the existing corporate tax rate,
of 12.5%, that would keep €1.56 billion here for the public purse. What would
€1.56 billion pay for in a year?
(i)
Build
10,000 homes at a cost of €156,000 each or,
(ii)
More than
double the Garda Síochána budget (currently €1.4 billion) or,
(iii)
Employ
50,000 nurses or,
(iv)
Employ
50,000 teachers or,
(v)
Fix the
water infrastructure and abolish property tax
Google are
only one multinational. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said on Wednesday that, the company's operations
in Cork will not be affected by the outcome of an investigation into Apple's
tax affairs in Ireland and that his company was firmly rooted in Ireland.
If
all of the multinationals contribute what they ought to, this country can be
fixed.