EU's High Court to Apple: Hand Over $14.3B to Ireland

European Court of Justice dismisses tech giant's appeal to avoid forking over back taxes
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 10, 2024 8:46 AM CDT
EU's High Court to Apple: Hand Over $14.3B to Ireland
People wait in front of the Apple store in Munich on Sept. 25, 2015.   (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)

The European Union's top court on Tuesday rejected Apple's final legal challenge against an order from the bloc's executive commission to repay $14.3 billion in back taxes to Ireland, bringing an end to the long-running dispute. The European Court of Justice overruled a lower court's earlier decision in the case, saying it "confirms the European Commission's 2016 decision: Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland is required to recover," per the AP.

  • History: The European Commission, the bloc's executive branch, had accused Apple of striking an illegal sweetheart tax deal with Irish authorities so that it could pay extremely low rates. That ruling dramatically escalated the fight over whether America's biggest corporations are paying their fair share around the world. The EU head office said that Ireland granted such lavish tax breaks to Apple that the company's effective corporate tax rate on its European profits dropped from 1% in 2003 to a mere 0.005% in 2014. Apple has disputed such figures. The European Union's General Court disagreed with that decision in its 2020 ruling, which has now in turn been overturned.
  • Apple's reaction: "We are disappointed with today's decision, as previously the General Court reviewed the facts and categorically annulled this case," the company said in a statement. "There has never been a special deal." The New York Times notes that the $14 billion and change had been placed in an escrow account as the case wound its way through the courts; the money will now be released to Ireland.
  • Google: Apple isn't the only tech giant that got bad news from the EU on Tuesday. The Court of Justice also concurred with the commission's 2017 decision to impose a $2.6 billion fine over Google boosting its own price-comparison shopping platform over others in online searches. Google, which lost a 2021 appeal in the case, says in a statement it's "disappointed" in the latest ruling.
(More Apple stories.)

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