Last year, Google’s primary Irish company made €3.57 billion in earnings before taxes, a 79% increase over the year before. Google Ireland Ltd.’s profit increased as a result of its growing turnover, which increased by €4.7 billion to €77.3 billion.
The corporation’s parent company received a €5 billion dividend during that time, up from €42.1 million the previous year. However, the most recent financial statements for the year ending in December last year reveal the payment of an additional interim dividend of €4.5 billion following the conclusion of the accounting period.
While administrative costs rose by €2.4 billion to €57.1 billion, the IT giant’s cost of sales jumped by €600 million to €16.6 billion. After paying €587.34 million in taxes, or 16% of its pre-tax profit, the business made €2.98 billion after taxes. The average headcount increased to 5,310 from 4,832 the year before.
Google Ireland’s turnover increased by €7.6 billion to €45.7 billion last year, including wages and salaries, social welfare costs, and share-based payments, while its tax payment decreased by over €9 million to €263 million.
According to recently submitted accounts to the Companies Office, Google Ireland’s pretax profit increased from €1.7 billion to €1.94 billion in 2019. It now employs 4,131 people in Ireland, an increase of about 10%.
Google Europe, Middle East, and Africa Unlimited, a new company established last year and registered in Ireland, received a €500 million dividend from the internet behemoth. Google Ireland Holdings Unlimited, with its headquarters in Bermuda, was its previous parent.
Google has two data centers in Dublin, where it operates its search and advertising operations for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). The average cost of pension expenses per employee was €207,705.
According to the corporation, traffic acquisition expenses were the main cause of the €2.7 billion increase in sales expenditures to €11.6 billion last year. Due in significant part to the increase in employment, royalties paid to another group company, and increased sales and marketing, administration expenses jumped from €4.6 billion to €29.7 billion.
In 2019, Google Ireland additionally spent €267.7 million on contracting with other group entities to provide research and development services.
“As we strive to deliver value for our advertisers, publishers, and partner networks across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, 2019 was a strong year of steady expansion for Google Ireland,” a company spokesperson stated. Last year, we not only increased our turnover but also added over 350 new positions, he said.
2019 saw a 19% increase in shareholder funds from €5.8 billion to €6.9 billion, while total business assets climbed by €1.4 billion to €11 billion. In 2019, Google Ireland additionally spent €267.7 million on contracting with other group entities to provide research and development services.
After 17 years in Ireland, Google paid out €617.9 million last year for staff-related expenses, up from €543.7 million in 2018. According to the company’s financial statements, it had €92.8 million in capital commitments at the end of 2019.
Two years after new competitors closed the contentious “double Irish” loophole, Google continued to exploit the scheme to transfer billions of dollars in untaxed profits to Bermuda.
Since opening a small satellite office in Ireland in 2003, Google has grown to become one of the largest employers and corporate tax payers in the state.
New financial statements released this week for Google Ireland, the primary local division of the US search giant that sells advertising around Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, revealed that the company had recorded €1.33 billion in pre-tax earnings on €32.2 billion in revenue. In 2016, its tax charge was €163.8 million; this year, it was €170.9 million.
However, separate accounts for Google’s main Irish holding company reveal that, for the first time since the company’s early Dublin founding, it has transferred massive revenues tax-free offshore through its local subsidiaries.
Google Ireland Holdings, the parent company of Google Ireland and several other locally incorporated companies, reported $14.5 billion in untaxed profits on $22.3 billion in revenue last year.
The total represented a significant rise over the $8.9 billion profit the business reported on $17.6 billion in sales in 2016. The business was formerly exempt due to its unrestricted share structure.
