Ireland plans to end “Double-Irish” tax loophole favoring Apple, others

Ireland is planning major changes to its corporate tax structure, according to Reuters, including eliminating the “Double-Irish” tax loophole that has allowed companies such as Apple to use Ireland as a tax haven. Addressing Ireland’s parliament, the government’s Finance Minister Michael Noonan stated that “aggressive tax planning by multinational companies has been criticised by governments across the globe and has damaged the reputation of many countries,” further promising to change the country’s residency rules to require that all companies registered in Ireland also be “tax resident,” thereby requiring them to pay taxes to the Irish government. The change takes effect on January 1st, 2015 for new companies, however the government plans a transitional approach for existing companies including Apple through the end of 2020. Last month, the European Union issued a “preliminary view” notifying Ireland that its tax deals with Apple and other large companies constituted illegal state support for those companies.