TECH NEWS – It’s not an insignificant amount, and Ireland will get some pocket change that could be spent wisely in the country!
The European Court of Justice (ECJ for short) has issued a final ruling ordering Apple to pay €13 billion to Ireland for failing to pay that much in taxes. The ECJ upheld the European Commission’s (EC) 2016 decision that the Irish had given Apple an illegal handout and must now get what they are owed. The EC accused Ireland eight years ago of giving Apple illegal tax breaks and manipulating the accounting of the Cupertino company’s Irish subsidiaries’ profits between 1991 and 2014. The EC agreed with the arrangement, but not with the fact that it was not available to others, giving Apple an undue advantage.
In 2020, the ECJ overturned the EC’s decision, but the current ruling is final, stating that the ECJ erred in law and that Ireland “granted unlawful and incompatible state aid to these companies, from which the Apple group as a whole benefited”. So, in a vain attempt by an EU member state (which is a tax haven for tech companies anyway…), the attempt failed…
“This case has never been about how much tax we pay, but which government we have to pay it to. We always pay all the taxes we owe wherever we operate and there has never been any special deal. The European Commission is trying to retroactively change the rules and ignore that our income has already been taxed in the U.S., as required by international tax law. We are disappointed with today’s decision, as the Court of First Instance previously reviewed the facts and categorically rejected this case,” said an Apple statement.
The Irish government says Apple should not have to pay back the tax because the losses were offset by the country’s attractiveness to other tech companies. It will accept the ECJ ruling and begin collecting the unpaid tax from Apple. Incidentally, the court also slapped Google on the wrist, fining it 2.4 billion euros for abusing its dominant position by offering users shopping comparisons. This fine was originally imposed in 2017 and was the largest ever at the time, and Google has been appealing it ever since. Google was disappointed, while Margarethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust chief, hailed the rulings as a victory.
Still, Apple’s fine is not small…
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