Apple must pay $14.4 billion in back taxes after losing an EU tax case

Apple has been ordered to pay $14.4 billion in back taxes to Ireland after losing an EU tax case.

Apple has lost its appeal against an EU order to reimburse Ireland for unpaid taxes of 13 billion euros ($14.4 billion), which was part of an EU assault on sweetheart deals between EU nations and big corporations.

The decision, which was issued by the European Commission in 2016, claimed that Apple had profited from two Irish tax rulings that had manipulated its 2014 tax burden to as low as 0.005%.

The judges declared, “The Court of Justice renders a final decision in this case and upholds the 2016 ruling of the European Commission: Ireland gave Apple illegal aid, which Ireland must repay.”

“The European Commission is trying to retroactively change the rules and ignore that, as required by international tax law, our income was already subject to taxes in the U.S.” Apple stated in a statement expressing unhappiness with the decision.

The decision, which is final and irreversible, represents a major win for EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager in her attempts to stop multinational corporations from evading taxes.

Ireland, which had also contested the EU decision, will now have to pursue Apple for the unpaid taxes.

With the potential to recoup billions of euros in unpaid taxes, the case establishes a precedent for other EU nations to reconsider their tax agreements with multinational corporations.