In September 2019 Patently Apple posted a report titled “Apple tells Judges in Luxembourg that the EU's order to pay them €13 Billion in back taxes 'Defies Reality and Common Sense.'

Today, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that Apple must pay €13 billion to Ireland in unpaid taxes, something the Irish government has argued against.

Eight years since the EU Commission initially found that Ireland had given Apple illegal tax advantages, and after challenges in lower courts, today’s ruling is binding.

“The Court of Justice gives final judgment in the matter and confirms the European Commission’s 2016 decision: Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland is required to recover,” the court has said.

The European Commission argued that because the entities are based in Ireland, profits should be taxed through the Irish Revenue Commission. The State had argued against that assertion, saying the Commission’s case breached the country’s tax sovereignty.

Apple and Ireland won a victory in the long-running case in 2020, when the EU’s General Court annulled the order for Apple to pay the taxes owed – a decision Brussels appealed.

But Apple was dealt a blow in November last year when the top legal adviser of the higher European Court of Justice recommended scrapping that decision, saying it was peppered with legal errors.

Prior to today’s ruling, the EU had lost similar tax payment cases against Amazon and Starbucks. For more read the report from The Journal, an Irish publication.

In 2016, Vestager ordered that Apple pay Ireland €14.3 billion after it was found to have received illegal tax benefits for over a decade, but this was annulled by the General Court of the European Union in 2020. CEO Tim Cook dubbed the fine “total political crap.”

On June 24, Apple became the first tech giant to be formally charged by the European Commission for violating the Digital Markets Act.

It was reported on August 20, 2024 that the EU Antitrust leader Margrethe Vestager would not be renominated for a third term. Today’s ruling against Apple will certainly be seen as a victory for Vestager.