Apple has been ordered by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to repay €13 billion (£11 billion; $14 billion) in unpaid taxes to Ireland. The EU Commission had accused Ireland of granting Apple illegal tax advantages eight years ago, but the Irish government has consistently contested the need for repayment.
“The Court of Justice gives final judgment in the matter and confirms the European Commission’s 2016 decision: Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland is required to recover,” the court stated.
This ruling comes a day after Apple unveiled its new iPhone 16 range. In response to the judgment, an Apple representative said, “This case has never been about how much tax we pay, but which government we are required to pay it to. We always pay all the taxes we owe wherever we operate and there has never been a special deal. Apple is proud to be an engine of growth and innovation across Europe and around the world, and to consistently be one of the largest taxpayers in the world.”
The ECJ’s decision upholds the European Commission’s 2016 ruling, following a lengthy legal process. The decision pertains to the period from 1991 to 2014 and addresses the tax treatment of profits generated by two Apple subsidiaries based in Ireland. These tax arrangements were deemed illegal as they provided Apple with advantages not available to other companies.
“The European Commission is trying to retroactively change the rules and ignore that, as required by international tax law, our income was already subject to taxes in the US. We are disappointed with today’s decision as previously the General Court reviewed the facts and categorically annulled this case,” Apple added.
The original ruling came amid the Commission’s efforts to curb multinational corporations from using complex financial structures to minimize their tax liabilities. Although the lower court of the ECJ had overturned the ruling in 2020 following an appeal by Ireland, this verdict has now been overturned by the higher court, which found legal errors in the previous decision.
This ruling means that Ireland will now have to recover the lost taxes from Apple—a task Dublin has spent years trying to avoid through legal battles.
In another significant decision, Europe’s top court has ruled that Google must pay a €2.4 billion (£2 billion) fine for abusing the market dominance of its shopping comparison service. Google had been appealing this fine, which was originally imposed by the European Commission in 2017.
At the time, it was the largest penalty ever issued by the Commission, although Google has since faced an even larger fine of €4.3 billion in 2018 over allegations of using its Android software to unfairly promote its own apps.
As with Apple’s case, this decision concludes a lengthy legal process.
