Tech/ News: Apple ordered to pay €13bn in Taxes to Ireland After Final ECJ ruling
In a decisive blow to Apple, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that the tech giant must pay €13bn ($14bn) in back taxes to Ireland, ending a lengthy legal battle that has spanned nearly a decade.
The case centers on accusations by the European Commission, which claimed that Ireland gave Apple unlawful tax advantages from 1991 to 2014—benefits not extended to other companies.
The ruling reinstates the 2016 decision by the Commission, overturning a lower court’s judgment in 2020 that had briefly favored Apple.
The ECJ determined that Ireland’s tax arrangements with Apple amounted to illegal state aid, forcing Dublin to now recover the money despite years of resistance.
Ireland had opposed the tax repayment, arguing that its favourable tax policies were crucial in attracting companies like Apple, which uses Ireland as its base for operations across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Apple expressed disappointment with the outcome, stating that the case was never about the amount of tax paid, but rather which government was entitled to the funds.
The company also criticized the European Commission for attempting to retroactively alter the rules and reiterated that it had already paid taxes on its income in the United States.
This landmark decision is viewed as a major victory for the European Commission, which has been aggressively targeting tax avoidance by multinational corporations.
It comes at a particularly bad time for Apple, coinciding with the release of its iPhone 16 line.
In a separate ruling, Google was also hit with a €2.4bn fine for abusing its market dominance in its shopping comparison service, marking another costly setback for a tech giant in Europe’s courts.
Despite Google’s efforts to appeal, the ECJ upheld the original penalty imposed by the European Commission in 2017.
As Apple and Google grapple with these significant financial hits, the European Union’s crackdown on corporate tax arrangements and market practices appears to be gaining momentum, sending a clear message to multinational corporations operating within the bloc.
Source: bbc.com
