Apple has lost an attempt to overturn a multibillion-dollar ruling in the European Union.
The European Court of Justice, the bloc’s highest court, upheld an order for Ireland to recoup up to 13 billion euros, equivalent to $14.35 billion, plus interest, in taxes from Apple, the Wall Street Journal reports.
In 2016 Ireland granted Apple benefits in contravention of EU state-aid rules, allowing the tech giant to pay substantially less tax than it owed. The commission asked Ireland to retrieve the sum in allegedly unpaid taxes between 2003 and 2014, plus interest, an order that both Apple and the Irish government appealed.
Years later, the General Court of the European Union, the bloc’s second-highest authority, annulled the commission’s decision because it said officials had failed to meet the legal standards in showing that Apple was given special treatment. Apple can’t appeal.
“Today is a big win for European citizens and for tax justice,” EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said.
Apple said it was disappointed with the decision. “We always pay all the taxes we owe wherever we operate and there has never been a special deal.”
Apple has set aside the money in an escrow account in Ireland. The Irish government said that the process of transferring the assets in the escrow fund to Ireland could now begin. Ireland has pledged to respect the ruling.
“This case was symbolic because it demonstrated that even the most powerful tech companies could be held accountable,” Vestager said. “No one is above the law.”
Writing in The Spectator, political commentator Brendan O’Neill said: “Big mistake… How sad that a country that fought so hard for its independence should now sell it off so cheaply to a distant commission.”
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