Apple and Ireland win appeal of $14.4B EU tax case

The European Commission has been overruled in a legal case where the Irish government argued that Apple was not given unfair and illegal tax advantages by the country.

Following the European Commission's decision to demand $14.4B in back taxes from Apple, the General Court in Luxembourg has ruled that the Irish government did not unlawfully aid the Cupertino company in reducing its tax bill.

According to the Irish Times, the new ruling states that the EC "did not succeed in showing to the requisite legal standard" that Apple benefited from Ireland's tax laws. This ruling, however, may yet be appealed before the highest court in the EU, the Court of Justice of the European Union.

#EUGeneralCourt annuls the decision taken by the @EU_Commission regarding the Irish #TaxRulings in favour of @Apple #Apple #EUCommission #StateAid pic.twitter.com/KoF6r1n82S
— EU Court of Justice (@EUCourtPress) July 15, 2020

Apple has not commented on the case lately, but a spokesperson for the Irish government has welcomed the verdict. "[It comes] at a sensitive time for Ireland," Ryan McGrath told the Irish Times, "which has been forced to fight a rearguard action against European efforts to impose different types of sales and digital taxes in recent years."

The original EU ruling in 2016 claimed that the Irish government gave Apple incentives to file taxes there and offered preferential tax breaks. As a result of that ruling, Apple was required to pay the $14.4B to the EU.

While Apple has made the payment, the money is currently in an escrow account. It will remain there until the result of any possible future appeal.

88 Comments

carnegie 1082 comments · 10 Years

About 4 years ago

I think this was a no-brainer, Apple and Ireland should have won this appeal. The European Commission's decision never demonstrated what it claimed it did and what it needed to in order to justify the action it took.

That said, I'm quite surprised that Ireland and Apple did win.

zimmermann 340 comments · 9 Years

carnegie said:

I think this was a no-brainer, Apple and Ireland should have won this appeal. The European Commission's decision never demonstrated what it claimed it did and what it needed to in order to justify the action it took.

That said, I'm quite surprised that Ireland and Apple did win.

Let’s wait to see if the EC goes to the Court of Justice for a final verdict.

zimmermann said:

carnegie said:

I think this was a no-brainer, Apple and Ireland should have won this appeal. The European Commission's decision never demonstrated what it claimed it did and what it needed to in order to justify the action it took.

That said, I'm quite surprised that Ireland and Apple did win.

Let’s wait to see if the EC goes to the Court of Justice for a final verdict.

I suspect the EU will ultimately win. I'm surprised Apple and Ireland even won at this stage though.

crowley 10431 comments · 15 Years

carnegie said:

I'm surprised Apple and Ireland even won at this stage though.

I imagine they are too. Oh well, a few more years of courtroom wrangling will keep the lawyers bellies full.

aderutter 622 comments · 17 Years

Good news, it was obvious that the EU were on a money grab and trying to retroactively change the law to do so imho.
I’m not saying Apple and Ireland will ultimately win even though I do not believe for a minute Apple broke the law.
I do believe the EU will more than ever given recent economic events do anything they can get to as much as they can from anywhere they can.