Reportedly, an adviser to the European Tribunal indicated that the EU General Court made legal errors when it sided with Apple Inc (AAPL) in a €13bn tax dispute. According to Reuters, this case was part of the European Union antitrust investigations, headed by chief Margrethe Vestager in 2016.
Possible reopening of EU tax case a €13bn headache for Apple
These probes allegedly found that Apple benefited from two Irish tax rulings. In terms of these, the tech giant only faced a 0.005% tax in 2014.
The company legally challenged these allegations and, in 2020, the EU General Court ruled in favour of Apple, stating that the regulators involved missed the mark and could not decisively prove Apple benefited from unfair tax relaxations.
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In response, Advocate General Giovanni Pitruzella argued that the EU General Court should dismiss the ruling and refer the case back to the lower tribunal. He maintained the EU General Court made several methodological errors that tarnished the tax rulings and necessitated a new assessment.
Trends show that the EU General Court adheres to approximately four out of five recommendations of this nature. Ireland once again emphasised that it did not provide Apple with state aid on its taxes. In the said Reuters report, Michael McGrath, the Irish finance minister, commented:
It is important to bear in mind that this opinion does not form part of the Court of Justice of the European Union judgment but is considered by the Court when arriving at its final ruling. It has always been, and remains, Ireland’s position that the correct amount of Irish tax was paid and that Ireland provided no state aid to Apple.
