European court annuls EU’s U$15 billion Apple tax decision

The General Court said the iPhone maker does not need to pay the record sum that the EU Commission called for

The 2016 ruling is part of the EU Commission’s crackdown on sweetheart tax deals between multinationals and some European countries

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The General Court said Apple does not need to pay the record sum that the EU Commission called for. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:30pm, 15 Jul 2020Updated: 9:41pm, 15 Jul 2020

Europe’s second-top court on Wednesday rejected an EU order to iPhone maker Apple to pay 13 billion euros (US$14.78 billion) in Irish back taxes.

“The General Court annuls the contested decision because the Commission did not succeed in showing to the requisite legal standard that there was an advantage for the purposes of Article 107(1) TFEU1,” judges said, referring to EU competition rules.

The 2016 ruling and the record sum is part of the European Commission’s crackdown on sweetheart tax deals between multinationals and some EU countries.

The EU accused Ireland of allowing Apple to park revenue earned in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India and sparing it almost any taxation.

Brussels said this gave Apple an advantage over other companies, allowing it to avoid Irish taxes between 2003 and 2014 of around 13 billion euros.

EU officials argued that constituted illegal “state aid” by Ireland.

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