Funds in Apple escrow account down over €350m

The fund which holds money that the European Commission says Apple must pay Ireland in back tax has lost €350 million over the past year.

The Cabinet was updated on the Apple Escrow Fund at its meeting today.

The total fund was valued at €13.63 billion at the end of 2021 – down from €13.98 billion at the end of 2020.

The performance of the fund has been affected by negative yields in the bond market. The fund is predominately invested in short to medium-term sovereign and quasi-sovereign bonds.

The European Commission determined that Apple pays the money in tax to Ireland and said it should have been collected by the Revenue Commissioners.

Ireland and Apple successfully appealed that decision to the General Court of the EU.

However, that judgement was then appealed by the European Commission to the European Court of Justice in September 2020.

In the meantime, the money continues to be managed by fund managers until the issue is finally decided.

According to the Government: “The timeline for the fund is aligned to the ongoing legal proceedings and the fund will remain in place until a final determination is made by the European Courts, at which time the funds held in escrow will be released.”