Surprise ruling on Apple’s taxes in Ireland raises questions
Last month the European Court of Justice ended an eight-year tax battle involving Apple and Ireland. In a dramatic upset, the court handed the EU Commission its only major win in a decade-long campaign to recapture tax for Europe from US multinationals.
Apple may have been the commission’s only victory, but it was a big one — the court reinstated the EU’s 2016 decision ordering Ireland to recover more than €13 billion (£11 billion) from Apple.
Americans did not take the decision quietly. Lawyers for the Treasury department in Washington wrote an unprecedented 25-page legal opinion, arguing that the commission’s reasoning violated EU law and tax treaties with the US, jeopardised international tax co-operation, and would chill cross-border investment.