€13B Apple Tax Case.
On Tuesday, the highest court in the European Union dismissed Apple’s last legal appeal against an order from the bloc’s executive commission to repay 13 billion euros in overdue taxes to Ireland.
The European Court of Justice has overturned a prior ruling made by a lower court in this matter, stating that it “upholds the European Commission’s 2016 determination: Ireland granted Apple illegal aid which Ireland is required to recover.”
The situation sparked outrage from Apple upon its initiation in 2016, with CEO Tim Cook describing it as “total political crap.”
At that time, U.S. President Donald Trump criticized European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who led the initiative campaign to root out special tax deals and impose restrictions on big U.S. tech companies, as the “tax lady” who “really hates the U.S.”
In its ruling of 2020, the General Court of the European Union disagreed with the European Commission, which had accused Apple of striking illegal tax agreement with Irish authorities so that it could pay extremely low rates.