Apple faces a defeat in the EU dispute over the tax bill of $14 billion

 Apple faces a defeat in the EU dispute over the tax bill of $14 billion

In an advisory opinion released on Thursday, EU Court of Justice Advocate General Giovanni Pitruzzella recommended that Apple's victory in a subordinate EU court be reexamined. In the next months, the highest EU tribunal is expected to provide a legally binding decision.

In 2020, Apple successfully challenged the EU's ruling in court, proving that the European Commission had erred on many occasions.

In their dispute with the EU's antitrust authority over an Irish tax bill of €13 billion ($14 billion), which served as the focal point of an EU assault on preferential fiscal agreements given to some of the most powerful corporations in the world, Apple Inc. and Ireland suffered a setback.

In an advisory opinion released on Thursday, EU Court of Justice Advocate General Giovanni Pitruzzella recommended that Apple's victory in a subordinate EU court be reexamined. In the next months, the highest EU panel will render its legally binding decision.

When EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager focused in 2016 on the iPhone maker's tax arrangements in Ireland, it infuriated everyone from the White House to the businesses Cupertino, California headquarters. Vestager is currently on temporary leave to pursue a bid for the presidency of the European Investment Bank. It is by far the largest case in Vestager's ten-year pursuit of tax justice, which has also included targets like Fiat, the automaker owned by Stellantis NV, and Amazon.com Inc.

In 2020, Apple successfully challenged the EU's ruling in court, proving that the European Commission had erred on many occasions. Vestager was dealt a devastating blow by the result; judges had disregarded her team's conclusions that Ireland and Luxembourg had granted the companies an unfair tax advantage, leading to several other defeats in other tax cases.

Nevertheless, the EU courts have at least maintained the commission's innovative approach of challenging business agreements with member states via the application of state-aid laws. The EU action also fueled a movement among member states to abolish tax breaks that let some multinational corporations to lawfully underpay taxes in Europe.