Apple has lost its appeal against an EU order to pay 13 billion euros ($14.4 billion) in back taxes to Ireland, as part of an EU crackdown on sweetheart deals between EU countries and multinationals.
The European Commission issued the order in 2016, stating that Apple benefited from two Irish tax rulings that artificially reduced its tax burden to as low as 0.005% in 2014.
“The Court of Justice gives final judgment in the matter and confirms the European Commission’s 2016 decision: Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland is required to recover,” judges said.
Apple expressed disappointment with the ruling, noted that “The European Commission is trying to retroactively change the rules and ignore that, as required by international tax law, our income was already subject to taxes in the U.S.”
The ruling is final and cannot be appealed, marking a significant victory for EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager in her efforts to curb tax avoidance by multinationals.
Ireland, which had also challenged the EU ruling, will now be required to recover the unpaid taxes from Apple.
The case sets a precedent for other EU countries to review their tax deals with multinationals and potentially recover billions of euros in unpaid taxes.
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