Ireland Expects EU Decision in Apple State Aid Case This Fall

By Natalia Drozdiak

BRUSSELS -- Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan on Wednesday said he expected the European Union's top antitrust regulator to rule in the fall on the long-running probe into Apple Inc.'s tax arrangements with Ireland.

At a press conference in Ireland on Wednesday, Mr. Noonan said following his meeting with EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, he now expects the decision to come in September or October, according to a spokesman for Ireland's embassy to the EU. Mr. Noonan met with Ms. Vestager in Brussels on Tuesday.

Mr. Noonan said he still has no indication of what the decision would be, the spokesman said. The EU could order Ireland to retrieve substantial sums from Apple in unpaid taxes.

The European Commission, the bloc's antitrust agency, opened a formal probe into Apple's tax arrangements more than two years ago, accusing Ireland that the deals it struck with the U.S. tech company in 1991 and 2007 amounted to state aid.

An Apple spokeswoman pointed to previous statements by a company executive saying it pays all the taxes it owes wherever the firm operates.

Write to Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 13, 2016 14:12 ET (18:12 GMT)

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