Dublin, Ireland: The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ordered tech giant Apple to pay €13bn ($14bn/£11bn) in unpaid taxes to the Irish government.
The ruling comes after years of legal disputes between the European Commission, Ireland, and Apple, surrounding allegations that the country initiated illegal tax merits to the company. The European Commission first accused Ireland of offering Apple unfair tax deals eight years ago, a move that has now been confirmed by the ECJ.
According to the court, Ireland granted Apple unlawful state aid, requiring the country to recover the unpaid taxes. Despite years of legal issues, including a previous ruling in 2020 that overturned the Commission’s decision, this new ECJ ruling is final.
The Irish government has long opposed the recovery of these taxes, and said it would now respect the court’s ruling. Ireland, home to Apple’s European, Middle Eastern, and African headquarters, has one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the European Union. For years, the country battled that attracting large multinationals, such as Apple, was worth the tax concessions.
The Irish government commented that, “Ireland will go through with the process of collecting the taxes from Apple.” Apple showed its disappointment, accusing the European Commission of attempting to retroactively change tax laws.
The company maintains that it pays all the taxes it owes in every country where it comes into operation. Apple stated that, “This issue has never been about how much tax we pay, but which government we are required to pay it to.” The tech firm also confirms that its profits were already subject to U.S. taxes, in compliance with international tax laws.
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