Google paid €28.6m corporation tax on revenues of €18.3bn in 2014

Tuesday 14 May 2013. Google HQ, Dublin 2.

Adrian Weckler

Google Ireland paid €28.6m in corporation tax on revenues of €18.3bn last year, according to accounts filed by the company.

The technology giant made a profit here of €167.9m last year, according to the accounts.

Google said that "administrative expenses", including royalties paid to its own offshore entities, rose to €12.5bn last year, an increase of €800m.

The company legally avoids a variety of international taxes by booking revenue through its Irish operation in this way.

The company is one of a number of high-profile multinational firms facing scrutiny from European regulators on its business affairs.

It could also become embroiled in widening tax probes by European authorities following a recent European Commission ruling.

The ruling struck down tax shelter arrangements undertaken by Starbucks and Fiat with the Dutch and Luxembourg governments.

And Ireland may soon be required to reclaim millions in back taxes from Apple if the European Commission rules that our system illegally bestowed tax exemptions to the iPhone manufacturer.

Google says that it spent more than €500m in 'capital assets' in Ireland. Last year, it spent €79m purchasing two buildings in Dublin's Barrow Street and invested €73.9m in research and development.

The company also recently announced that construction on a new €150m data centre in west Dublin has begun.

Google says that it has 2,763 "direct employees" working in Dublin.

"Google in Dublin is a growth engine for businesses across Ireland and right across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, driving job creation and economic growth," said Ronan Harris, head of Google in Ireland.

"Our Dublin office is the largest Google office outside the US with more than 5,000 direct and contracted employees.

"We're continuing to recruit great talent in Dublin to support our customers across Europe from sales and marketing to developer support and user operations.

"We continued to invest in Ireland during 2014 and this investment continues in 2015 with the construction of a second €150m data centre in west Dublin. This further strengthens Google's commitment to Ireland."