Apple loses decade-long Irish tax battle

Tech giant Apple has lost a decade-long battle with the European Union regarding a €13.0bn tax bill in Ireland.

In 2014, the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, launched a probe into Apple's tax payments in Ireland, and in 2016, ordered Dublin to recover as much as €13.0bn in back taxes from Apple, stating the company had received "illegal" tax benefits from Ireland over two decades.

Apple and Ireland appealed the Commission's decision in 2019, and in 2020 the EU General Court sided with Apple, anulling the Commission's 2016 decision as it said the executive arm failed to prove that the Irish government had given Apple unfair tax advantages.

However, the European Court of Justice set aside the General Court's decision on Tuesday and confirmed the Commission's original 2016 ruling.

"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," said Apple.

As of 1030 BST, Apple shares were down 1.40% in pre-market trading at $217.81 each.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com