‘Ireland labelled a “tax haven” as US Senate investigates Apple’s offshore strategies’

Ireland’s reputation “took a battering” at a US Senate hearing on May 21, reports The Irish Times, receiving the label of “tax haven” in an investigation into the offshore tax practices of technology company Apple.

The California-based makers of the iPhone and the iPad were accused of making a special agreement with Irish authorities to hide tens of billions of US dollars in Irish “ghost companies”.

Prime Minister Enda Kenny rejected the allegations and dismissed the notion that Ireland was a tax haven, saying “Ireland does not – I will repeat – does not do special tax-rate deals with companies.”