Apple Beats the European Commission on $15 Billion Tax Judgment

Apple Inc, a global tech giant, has just won a record 13 billion Euro or $14.9 billion appeal against the European Commission.

In 2016, the European Commission had ordered the tech giant to pay $14.9 billion in back taxes to the Irish government.

This, the EU’s antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, called a ‘sweetheart deal’ as at the time and explained that the Irish government, a member of the European Union, does not have a single right to exempt Apple from paying tax.

“Member States cannot give tax benefits to selected companies — this is illegal under EU state aid rules,” Vestager stated in 2016. “The Commission’s investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years.”

The Irish government and Apple immediately refuted the commission judgment and filed two separate appeals with the European General Court, with Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, calling the European Commission decision ‘total political crap.’

On Wednesday, July 15, 2020, the European General Court annulled the European Union Commission judgment regarding Irish tax rules.

The General Court said, “the Commission did not succeed in showing to the requisite legal standard that there was an advantage” for Apple.

“The General Court considers that the commission did not prove, in its alternative line of reasoning, that the contested tax rulings were the result of discretion exercised by the Irish tax authorities,” said the court.