Apple loses tax case: Will pay billions of euros

Apple loses 13 billion euro tax case

The European Court of Justice, the EU's highest legal authority based in Luxembourg, has announced its ruling in the case brought by the European Commission against Ireland and Apple.

The court ruled that Apple must pay 13 billion euros in back taxes to Ireland.

The decision stated that the European Court of Justice has upheld the 2016 ruling by the European Commission, which found that Ireland had provided illegal state aid to Apple and that the country must recover this aid.

The high court also overturned a previous tax ruling by the EU General Court that had been in Apple's favor.

THE LEGAL PROCESS BEGAN IN 2016

The European Commission concluded its three-year investigation in 2016 into the taxation of companies established in Ireland by the US-based Apple for its European operations.

Deciding that the tax practices Apple benefited from in Ireland were contrary to EU rules, the European Commission had ordered the collection of 13 billion euros plus interest from Apple for the period between 2003 and 2014.

Apple accused the EU of acting unilaterally and retroactively changing tax rules in Ireland, and both the Irish government and Apple initiated legal proceedings against the Commission's decision.

The case was handled by the EU General Court, which is part of the European Court of Justice structure. In 2020, that court had annulled the European Commission's decision regarding taxation in Ireland in favor of Apple.

The General Court had ruled that the European Commission's decision that Apple was provided with an economic advantage in Ireland was not sufficiently proven and was flawed.

The European Commission had appealed the EU General Court's decisions to the European Court of Justice, the higher court, for a legal review.

As a result of the legal battle, it has been decided that Apple must pay back the 13 billion euros in taxes to Ireland.