It is not believable to me that such a high fraction of Apple's profits are happening in Ireland. Clearly something is being distorted or manipulated to avoid either the U.S. or some other country's tax code.

If this was all so above board and not a loophole or gray area, why do they want to be so secretive about it? "“For those of you who are not aware Apple are extremely sensitive concerning publicity,” wrote Cameron Adderley, global head of Appleby’s corporate department, in a March 20, 2014 email to other senior partners. “They also expect the work that is being done for them only to be discussed amongst personnel who need to know.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/world/apple-taxes-jersey....

Virtually none of Apples profits are made in Ireland and Apple doesn’t claim they are. Ireland is where they’ve invested the profits, after paying taxes on them to the countries they were earned in.

The controversy is only on how much tax they should pay on the interest on their profits. Ireland gave them a sweet deal because it cost them nothing to let Apple deposit $100B+ in Irish banks.

And all corporate decisions have basic levels of privacy attached. No accountant, tax or otherwise, should talk about their clients tax and business decisions.