In July 2020, Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple has won a Landmark Court Case in Europe today with the Court ruling that Ireland did not give Apple a Tax Advantage." Almost three years later and we're learning that the EU competition regulators appealed to the bloc's highest court on Tuesday to override a lower tribunal and make Apple pay a record 13 billion euros ($14.3 billion) in Irish back taxes. 

The case, which has far-reaching implications for corporate tax bills, is the most high-profile of EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager's campaign against sweetheart deals between multinationals and European Union states.

Commission lawyer Paul-John Loewenthal told the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU): "Its outcome will determine whether member states may continue to grant multinational substantial tax breaks in return for jobs and investments."

The EU competition enforcer has suffered court losses in recent months to challenges by automaker Stellantis, Amazon and Starbucks, although it had a legal victory when the CJEU in September took its side in a Belgian tax break case against a group of multinationals. The later could be a hint as to how an appeal my go. 

Still, Vestager has forced Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg to drop controversial tax structures and contributed to the global movement for fairer corporate tax rates. For more on this, read the full Reuters report.