Published in News

Apple to spend some of its tax-free cash pile in EU

by on23 February 2015


Warning the tax inspectors

Fruity tax avoider Apple is going to spend some of its huge cash pile investing in the EU. This is probably because if it brings back any of its EU generated cash to the US it will be taxed, so it might as well spend it on something useful.

The UK Daily Telegraph  claims that Apple is to invest €1.7bn in Europe apparently because " it needs to support a rapid growth in sales of products and apps that shows no sign of abating."

The reality is that it is investing in fields where it has yet to make much impact – data centres.

The company is to develop and open two new data centres in Europe, which will be built in County Galway, Ireland, and in Denmark. The Telegraph claims that the data centres will power Apple's online services, such as the iTunes and the App Store, but they are more likely to be required for Jobs' Mobs cloud plans.

The Telegraph claims that the money will be a "boost to the European economy and will create hundreds of jobs." Clearly ignoring the fact that once a data centre is built it only needs a dozen or so staff and a small dog called Colin.

In fact in the US some people have been questioning why Apple is getting tax concessions for its data centres when they actually employ so few people.

Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple, said: "We are grateful for Apple's continued success in Europe and proud that our investment supports communities across the continent. This significant new investment represents Apple's biggest project in Europe to date.

"We're thrilled to be expanding our operations, creating hundreds of local jobs and introducing some of our most advanced green building designs yet."

Alongside the investment, Apple has provided new details about its impact on the European economy.

The company said that in 2014 it spent more than €7.8bn with European companies and suppliers, such as chipmaker Arm, as it developed its products such as the iPhone and iPad.

Almost 672,000 jobs in Europe are supported by Apple, according to a report by the company. Of these jobs, 530,000 are linked to the development of apps for Apple's iOS operating system. Developers have earned more than €6.6bn in sales since the launch of the App Store in 2008.

And why is it doing all this? Apple is currently being investigated by the EU over its dodgy tax plans. Apple is sending a message to the EU that if it does not do what it is told, then Apple will take all its money away, and the EU will be without the fruity cult.

Of course, if Apple actually paid the full amount of tax in the EU it would probably be a lot more than the billion it will invest in a data centre. The data centre money will go towards making Apple money, while tax cash tends to go to helping the struggling European health service and education system.

Last modified on 23 February 2015
Rate this item
(5 votes)