The EU’s top court has sided with the European Commission in its bid to make Apple pay billons of euros of back taxes to the Republic, delivering a major blow to the Government and the US technology giant.
The ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECB) on the world’s biggest antitrust case on Tuesday said that it has “set aside” a ruling by the second-highest court four years ago, which had quashed the commission’s decision that Apple owed the Republic €13 billion in taxes.
EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager ordered Apple in 2016 to pay the State more than €13 billion in alleged back taxes, covering 2004-2014, as she claimed the Republic had given the US tech giant illegal tax aid.
The decision centred on two tax opinions, or “rulings” as they are referred to, handed out by Revenue in 1991 and 2007 to Apple subsidiaries in Ireland. The commission said the rulings gave Apple an unfair and select advantage over other corporate taxpayers.
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A legal appeal by Ireland and Apple against the commission’s decision resulted in a ruling by the EU general court in 2020 that Ms Vestager’s officials fell short of showing to “the requisite legal standard” that Apple had received illegal State aid.
The advocate general concluded the general court had made a series of errors of law in its ruling.
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