The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) definitively confirmed on Tuesday the record penalty of 13 billion euros – which, adding interest, amounts to 14.3 billion – that Brussels imposed on the American giant Apple in 2016 for evade paying taxes due in Europe between 2003 and 2014, take advantage of illegal tax benefits offered by Ireland.
The ruling overturns the first instance judgment of the EU General Court, which in 2020 had annulled the multi-million dollar fine, alleging that the European Commission had failed to achieve its objective. demonstrate in a legally sufficient manner the existence of a selective economic advantage and, by extension, of public aid.
The CJEU rejects the arguments of Ireland and Apple and definitively settles the dispute and confirms the European Commission’s 2016 decision: Dublin granted Tim Cook’s company illegal aid that the said State must recover.
After an in-depth investigation launched in 2014, the Community Executive came to the conclusion that the Two tax rulings issued by Ireland regarding Apple artificially and substantially reduced the taxes paid by the company in that country since 1991. The result is that Apple paid barely an effective rate of 1% in corporate tax in 2003, which was reduced to 0.005% in 2014, according to the Brussels analysis.
Thanks to Ireland’s favourable tax treatment, Apple Avoided Paying Taxes on Almost All of Its Profits generated by sales of its products in the EU single market as a whole. In fact, the company recorded all its sales in Ireland rather than in the countries in which the products in question were sold.
As soon as he learned of the Brussels sanction, Tim Cook described it as “pure political garbage“For his part, Donald Trump severely criticized the management of the Competition Commissioner, the Danish liberal Margrethe Vestager, whom he nicknamed “the tax lady”.He hates America more than anyone I’ve ever met.” said the current Republican candidate.
