Apple and other unpatriotic and tax-averse U.S. corporations have established major headquarters in Ireland and other tax havens across the globe to reduce their already small tax burdens. Moreover, companies like Apple have recently been rewarding national governments that are foolishly willing to host them despite paying little to no taxes by increasing the size of their operations, often at the expense of their U.S. operations.
This is exactly the case with Apple, who has recently been deemphasizing the U.S. as sales growth slows to a trickle, and boosting its efforts abroad, especially in tax havens such as Ireland. Related to this, the Irish government announced on Wednesday morning that Apple was planning to add 1000 new employees to its European headquarters in Ireland, noting the iPhone maker was boosting the headcount from the current 5,000 at its main offices in Cork.
Perhaps coincidentally, Ireland’s finance minister Michael Noonan also commented that he anticipated European regulators would make a decision on Ireland’s controversial tax deal with Apple in 2016.
Of note, Apple claims nearly all of its non-U.S. earnings in Ireland for tax purposes, and EU regulators have challenged the firm’s extremely generous deal with the Irish government saying it in effect constitutes state aid. The European Commission claimed last year that the generous tax deals offered by Ireland were “motivated by employment considerations”.
More on new Apple jobs at Cork Campus in Ireland
There is no word yet on what kind of employees Apple is looking to hire in Cork. Of note, the tech giant’s jobs page lists roles in customer service, administrative and finance jobs, including support for other European countries. That said, the company also owns a $450 million Hollyhill manufacturing center where its iMac computers are built.
Ireland’s foreign investment agency (IDA) points out that Apple has created 1,000 new jobs in Ireland over the last 12 months. FM Noonan also commented that the announcement of new jobs showed that the controversy over Apple’s tax arrangements had not “affected their enthusiasm for Ireland”.
Also of interest, Apple CEO Tim Cook has been touring Europe over the last week or so, making visits to the UK, Italy and Ireland.
