Apple must pay €13 billion (£11 billion) in unpaid taxes, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled, bringing to an end a long-running dispute involving the tech company and the government of Ireland. The ruling by the EU’s top court is a huge win for the European Commission (and the outgoing Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager) against aggressive tax planning by large multinational companies. It is a major blow to the Irish government.
Following the publication of the judgment, the Irish government seemed positively disappointed
The case has a long and convoluted history. In 2016, the Commission determined that subsidiary companies belonging to the Apple Group had, historically, received tax advantages that constituted state aid from Ireland.
The Commission estimated that Ireland had given illegal tax benefits worth €13 billion to Apple. It therefore ordered Ireland to recover this money.
This decision generated outrage from Apple (CEO Tim Cook described it as ‘total political crap’) and the (then) US President, Donald Trump, who called Vestager,
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