In two separate cases today, the EU’s Court of Justice ruled in favour of back taxes and fines against Apple and Google totalling €15.4bn, a major victory in the bloc’s ongoing battle with big tech.
In the first ruling, the EU’s highest court has ordered Apple to pay Ireland €13.1bn in back taxes, bringing an end to the biggest tax dispute in history.
The EU Court of Justice’s judgement backs the European Commission, which accused Apple of benefitting from “substantially and artificially lowered tax” in Ireland since 1991.
“Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland is required to recover,” the Court of Justice said on Tuesday, adding that its ruling was the “final judgement in the matter.”
Apple will now have to pay Ireland €13.1bn in back taxes along with €1.2bn worth of interest — totalling a whopping €14.3bn. That’s roughly equal to Ireland’s entire annual healthcare budget.
The case is the most high-profile example of EU watchdog chief Margrethe Vestager’s campaign against so-called “sweetheart” deals that offer multinationals favourable tax terms in EU states. But it’s far from Vestager’s only battle with tech giants.
In a separate case today, the EU Court of Justice ruled in favour of a €2.4bn fine for Google, levied by the bloc’s antitrust regulators seven years ago.
In 2017, the Commission found Google guilty of favouring its shopping service in internet searches and thereby abusing its market dominance in Europe.
Like Apple, Google fought the decision. And like Apple, it lost.
This is a developing story.