The EU Court confirms the fine of more than 13 billion euros imposed on Apple for tax benefits in Ireland

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Tuesday confirmed the obligation of multinational Apple to repay more than 13 billion euros in Ireland because it benefited from illegal tax aid in that country.

The Luxembourg court has finally settled the case, agreeing with the European Commission, which concluded in 2016 that the multinational had benefited from selective tax treatment between 1991 and 2014, allowing the US company to pay substantially less tax than it should have.

In doing so, today’s ruling, which is not subject to appeal, overturns a 2020 first instance judgment of the General Court of the EU, which found that the Community services had not sufficiently demonstrated the existence of a selective advantage in the provision of services in favour of these companies.

The case dates back to 2016, when the Community Executive concluded that Ireland had given favourable treatment to the multinational, allowing it to pay “significantly less tax” than other companies thanks to a “selective advantage” prohibited by EU competition rules.

In particular, reference is made to two tax rulings made by the Irish Revenue Agency in 1991 and 2007 in favour of Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe, which endorsed the methods used by both to allocate profits to their respective Irish branches.

These resolutions were in force between 1991 and 2014, but the European Commission could only order the recovery of money that had not been paid during a ten-year period preceding the first request for information, which dates back to 2013.

According to their calculations, they amounted to 13 billion euros plus interest since 2003. Ireland has frozen the 14.3 billion that Apple paid in 2018 (13.1 billion in unpaid taxes and 1.2 billion in interest) in a fund.