The European Court of Justice, the highest court in the EU, has ruled that Apple must pay €13 billion in back taxes due to an illegal agreement with the Irish authorities. The lower court’s decision, which ruled in their favor, has been overturned. Bloomberg writes about this.
Author:
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The case began in 2016. The European Commission ruled that the Irish authorities’ decision to grant the company tax benefits was illegal and concluded that Apple must repay the full amount of unpaid taxes, i.e. 13 billion euros.
The company challenged this decision. The General Court of the European Union (GCEU) ruled that the European Commission had not proven that Ireland had provided Apple with illegal tax breaks over a long period of time. There was no collusion between the parties, nor was it the fact that it was Apple’s Irish subsidiaries that generated the revenues that, according to the European regulator, should replenish the country’s treasury.
The decision was eventually overturned. Apple criticized the court’s conclusion, saying it was “disappointed with today’s decision, as the court of general jurisdiction had previously reviewed the facts and categorically struck down this claim.”
US authorities filed a lawsuit against Apple in March 2024 for multiple violations of antitrust laws. There are numerous complaints against the company, mainly related to restrictions on competition and abuse of a dominant market position.
Author:
Nikolai Tikhonov
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
