EU General Court Favors Apple In Irish Tax Rulings

The EU General Court has favored Apple in a suit against the company for failing to pay $14.9 billion in the tax bill to the Irish governme...

The EU General Court has favored Apple in a suit against the company for failing to pay $14.9 billion in the tax bill to the Irish government.

EU judges stated that the European Commission had not proven that Ireland's tax agreements with the company were unlawful state aid. The decision of today may be appealed.

In a remark, the General Court declared:

"By today's judgement, the General Court annuls the contested decision because the Commission did not succeed in showing to the requisite legal standard that there was an advantage."

As early as August 2016, the European Commission ruled that Apple illegally evaded taxes in Ireland by 13.1 billion euros (approximately $14.9 billion). Apple must return this part of the tax to the Irish government. Apple and the Irish government both expressed dissatisfaction with the ruling and appealed.

While waiting for the outcome of the appeal, as a member of the European Union, Ireland fulfilled the ruling of the European Union and accepted Apple’s additional taxes. In September 2018, Ireland confirmed that Apple had deposited all taxes in an escrow account established by the Irish government. But the Irish government did not use the funds but had to wait for the outcome of the appeal.