Apple to Hire 1,000 in Ireland: Home of The 2.5% Tax Rate

Apple announced their intention to add 1,000 new jobs to their operations in Ireland (per Reuters).  Earlier in the year they announced plans to build an $850-million-euro data center in the land of stout beer and rain.

It appears this expansion of Irish operations is at least in part because of an upcoming tax ruling from the European Union.  Apple claims most of their overseas profits at the sweet rate of 2.5% and if they do not demonstrate a substantial footprint in the region, the whole scheme looks real shell-like.  And if it is only a tax shelter (which it more or less appears to be) then authorities are going to bust them for back taxes.

If the European Commission were to recover Euros from Apple, I imagine the money would be spent frivolously  supporting the Greeks.  Let’s hope Apple can appease the authorities through their good-faith hiring and infrastructure build.