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The ruling is a boost for EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Apple Inc. lost its court fight over a €13 billion ($14.4 billion) Irish tax bill, in a boost to the European Union’s crackdown on special deals doled out by nations to big companies.
The EU’s Court of Justice in Luxembourg backed a landmark 2016 decision that Ireland broke state-aid law by giving the iPhone maker an unfair advantage.
The European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday that a lower court win for Apple should be overturned, because judges incorrectly decided that the commission’s regulators had made mistakes in their assessment.
The ruling is a boost for EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, whose mandate in Brussels is about to end after two terms.
In 2016, Vestager sparked outrage across the Atlantic when she homed in on Apple’s tax arrangements. She claimed that Ireland granted illegal benefits to the Cupertino, California-based company that enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses in the country, over many years.
She ordered Ireland to claw back the €13 billion sum, which amounts to about two quarters of Mac sales globally. The money has been sitting in an escrow account pending a final ruling.
Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook blasted the EU move as “total political crap.” The US Treasury weighed in too, saying the EU was making itself a “supra-national tax authority” that could threaten global tax reform efforts. Then President Donald Trump said Vestager “hates the United States” because “she’s suing all our companies.”
“We are disappointed with today’s decision as previously the general court reviewed the facts and categorically annulled this case,” an Apple spokesperson said.
First Published: Sep 10 2024 | 3:22 PM IST
