Facebook’s EMEA HQ in Dublin. Image: Laura Hutton/Shutterstock
Facebook’s Irish subsidiary sees a major revenue boost in new account filings.
Today (29 November), Facebook announced that its revenues rose by 59pc in a single year, from €7.9bn in 2015 to €12.6bn.
Facebook Ireland’s profits before tax grew by €54.7m to €174.3m in 2016, compared to 2015’s €109.6m.
European Commission to look at tech tax payments
In terms of taxes paid, the tech juggernaut paid out a mere €30.4m, but this was still a major increase compared to 2015’s total tax bill of just €14.1m.
Companies such as Facebook, Apple and Google have regularly come under criticism for minimising the amount they need to pay in tax from their Irish bases.
The European Commission is currently looking at plans to change the regulations around the taxation of technology firms within the member state countries, as it says the changing digital economy needs to be more accurately reflected in the bottom line. “The current tax rules no longer fit the modern context where businesses rely heavily on hard-to-value intangible assets, data and automation, which facilitate online trading across borders with no physical presence.”
Facebook has major expansion plans
Head of Facebook Ireland, Gareth Lambe, said: “As the home of our international headquarters, Ireland is an important part of Facebook’s story, and our growth in 2016 demonstrated that.”
Earlier this month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that hundreds of new jobs would be created by the social network at its Dublin operations in 2018.
The firm also has plans for its data centre in Clonee, Co Meath. “We’re also expanding the Clonee data centre, further demonstrating our long-term commitment to investment in Ireland,” confirmed Lambe. Zuckerberg previously said that the data centre would be powered by 100pc renewable energy, and described Ireland as “an important part of our global community”.
Lambe added that new positions would make the Dublin contingent an even bigger global force. “There are over 2,000 people currently working at our Dublin offices and we recently announced that hundreds more jobs will be created in 2018, making it the largest Facebook site outside California.”
Facebook’s EMEA HQ in Dublin. Image: Laura Hutton/Shutterstock
