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Home Page > News > Google pays just $10 million Irish tax bill by routing €9 billion profits abroad

Google pays just $10 million Irish tax bill by routing €9 billion profits abroad

Google Ireland Ltd employs over 2,500 at it’s Dublin HQ

CATHY HAYES,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Sunday, October 7, 2012, 8:30 AM

Updated Sunday, October 7, 2012, 8:30 AM

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Google Dublin

Photo by Google Images

Internet giant Google paid a mere €8 million ($10 million) in Irish taxes, despite generating a whopping €12.5billion ($15.6 billion) in revenue last year.

Google, who has their Europe, Middle East, and Africa headquarters based in Dublin, take advantage of Ireland’s low corporate tax rate. It employs more than 2,500 people at the company’s HQ on Barrow Street, making it one of Ireland’s largest multinational employers.

The technology leader routes much of the profit from its Irish operation via Hollan to Bermuda, in a completely legal scheme.

The accounts for Google Ireland, announced on Friday, show that the company generated a gross profit of just over €9 billion ($11 billion) in 2011. It’s administrative expenses totaled the same amount..

As a result it made a pre-tax profit of €24.3million, ( $31.6 million) which left the company with a mere €8 million ( $10 million) bill for the Irish Revenue Commissioners.

Google Ireland head John Herlihy called 2011 "a period of sustained growth in our Europe, Middle East, and African operations".

"Turnover, revenues and employment all grew strongly, as we continue to reap the rewards of the growth in the digital economy. Strong growth in our core business of search advertising was fuelled by the continued shift of consumers and advertisers to the online marketplace.

"We also completed the acquisition of our three office buildings on Barrow Street, which provides us with the capacity we need for future growth."

In stark contract to Ireland's competitive tax zone, a recent analysis by Cato Institute ranked the US fourth among 90 countries for the highest corporate tax rate.

The overall rate of 35.6 percent “is almost twice the average rate for the 90 countries studied, and it is also the highest rate among the major industrial nations,” the study says.

“These results underscore the need for U.S. policymakers to tackle corporate tax reform.”

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eiriamach | Oct 10, 2012, 06:28 PM EDT

Cathy Hayes, you get your data from the CATO Institute-- a conservative think tank set up by the Koch brothers??????? And it looks like you get your economics from FOX News! How else could you conclude that the USA has the fourth highest corporate income tax? In 2009, corporate taxes comprised just over 2 percent of Ireland's GDP, whereas in the USA, corporate taxes comprised just over one percent of GDP. ONLY ICEland has a lower corporate tax as percentage of GDP! Total taxes in 2009: about 28 percent of GDP in Ireland and about 22 percent of GDP in the USA. Why is the corporate tax rate such a low percentage of GDP in the USA? The Republican Party has fought and filibustered continually for corporate tax loopholes. ThinkProgress web site puts the point this way: "But the Center for Tax Justice (CTJ) has crunched the most recent data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Office of Management and Budget, and the Census Bureau, and finds that 'the U.S. is already one of the least taxed countries for corporations in the developed world.'”

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Searlit | Oct 10, 2012, 12:15 AM EDT

It dosen't matter which country these corporations are in. Their aim is the same. They are nothing more than a new aristocracy which has found a way to recreate the feudal system.

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Danno | Oct 08, 2012, 05:02 PM EDT

OK misneac. Lets see... Google Ireland showed a gross profit of $11 billion and paid taxes of $10 million to the Revenue Commissioners. That works out to an effective tax rate of about .09%. Now, go see what your effective tax rate was for 2011. mmmmm.......A slight difference eh! Now, go ask an Irish worker what tax rate he pays. Do you really think Google would leave Ireland? It's time you got some "cop on".

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TayandCake | Oct 08, 2012, 04:25 PM EDT

If I tried this it would be jail time, but not for a big shiny facless company.

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misneac | Oct 08, 2012, 12:14 PM EDT

Why dont some of your posters show occasionally some brains ? It is great for the Irish economy that we have such corporations as Google ,Intel etc. operating in Ireland ,paying tax even at a reduced rate ,and employing thousands of people who also contribute to the countrys economy .What syupid logic would drive these corporations out of the country to relocate in India ,Bermuda etc. !! We also tolerate these mindless protesters who endeavour to destroy American planes at Shannon Airport ,putting at risk the livelihood of many families in the region .I would give them a kick in the arse ,and put them to work on civic projects or tending the old and infirm .The future of Ireland lies in having a bit of cop on ,and forget all this political correctness !

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IrelandNorth | Oct 08, 2012, 07:23 AM EDT

The ethics and morality of a maximum corporate tax rate of 12.5% on profits of obscene proportions is in stark contrast to an minimum income tax rate of 40% on earnings below the average industrial wage. Against a backdrop of death by a thousand cutbacks in social welfare, and native mass emigration, the dominant party in government is quite obvously failing in its Christian Democratic duty. The 2,500 people employed by Google Ireland in Dublin are quite probably foreign nationals working at wage levels of their country of origin, and below the basic Irish minimum wage, further inflating Google's profits to be banked abroad in tax free havens. To what extent does Ireland and the Irish benefit from this, other than Irish millionaire family households and politicians who protect their interests.

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Danno | Oct 07, 2012, 09:44 PM EDT

Whaaaaaaa??

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Danno | Oct 07, 2012, 03:40 PM EDT

You need to open your eyes! Irish Tax Law enables Google and other multi nationals to funnel money into subsidiaries created in Bermuda and The Netherlands. It is tax avoidance, legally carried out under the title of Intellectual Property. In the past 4 years, this has enabled Google to legally keep over $4 billion in taxes which would otherwise be payable to the USA, Ireland and several other countries. If you believe $11 billion in admin expenses is going into the Irish economy or any economy for that matter, you are thinking wishfully. These type of corporate tax loopholes need to be closed. This has been going on for much too long. Until corporate tax law is revised, governments will continue to try and balance sovereign debt and bank debt on the backs of the working class. It's time we woke up! Corporate benefactors would like us to remain sheep. But, it's time "we the people" speak up.

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Ms.Gail | Oct 07, 2012, 01:53 PM EDT

It sounds like the income isn't just what was earned in Ireland. If a company pays taxes elsewhere for income earned elsewhere, that's only right. If the administrative expenses take place in Ireland and the money is going into the Irish economy, that's very good.

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Danno | Oct 07, 2012, 12:34 PM EDT

Amazing! Google shoes a gross profit of $11 billion and is legally able to account for and post almost the same in Administrative Expenses resulting in a mere $24 million in pre-tax profits. This is the real problem NOT Ireland's 12.5% corporation tax. ...and the shower of whores in the Dail continue to squeeze every last cent from the middle and lower classes, driving the country back to the 1950's.

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staker42 | Oct 07, 2012, 11:32 AM EDT

My only comment is I America lowers its corporate tax rate and Google brings the 2500 jobs back to the USA where it earns the majority of its it's revenue.

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