iTunes subject to Irish tax when service moves to Cork — Apple

APPLE’S multi-billion iTunes business will be subject to Irish tax at the statutory rate once its transfer to Cork is complete early next year, the company has said.

The Evening Echo reported on Wednesday that Apple had completed the merger of the iTunes service, currently based in Luxembourg, with the Hollyhill-basedApple Distribution International.

The Apple European Headquarters building in Hollyhill, Cork. Picture: David Keane.

Once the transfer is complete, staff in Hollyhill will serve iTunes customers in more than 100 countries worldwide.

iTunes is Apple’s hugely popular distribution service for songs, videos, books and podcasts.

The service includes a catalogue of more than 43 million songs, 700,000 apps, more than a million podcasts and 40,000 music videos.

It began operating in 2003, supplying music to Apple’s iPod music player devices and later to the iPhone and iPad devices.

The service records revenues in the billions each year.

The company has confirmed to the Evening Echo that iTunes, like other Appleservices based in Cork, will be subject to Irish tax.

“Apple has been operating in Ireland since 1980 and now employs over 5,500 people. As we continue to expand our operations in Cork, we are moving our iTunes business there and will support content stores for more than 100 countries from our campus at Hollyhill,” a spokesperson said.

However, the way Apple’s businesses in Cork are taxed by the State has been hugely controversial.

The company is fighting a public battle with the European Commission following its ruling last month that Ireland granted tax breaks to the company which amounted to illegal State aid.

Ireland has been ordered to claim €13bn in back-taxes, a decision that is being appealed by both Apple and the Irish State.

The company currently employs more than 5,500 people in Cork, with plans to grow that number even further.

Work has begun on an office and car park extension to accommodate furtherexpanded services such as iTunes.

The post iTunes subject to Irish tax when service moves to Cork — Apple appeared first on Evening Echo.