EU Competition Chief Appeals Court Ruling on Apple's Taxes in Ireland
September 25 2020 - 6:21AM
Dow Jones News
By Valentina Pop
BRUSSELS--Apple Inc.'s legal battle in Europe over a 13
billion-euro ($15.2 billion) tax bill will continue, potentially
for years, after the European Union appealed a court ruling that
sided with the U.S. tech giant.
EU officials doubled down Friday on their finding from 2016,
which alleged that Ireland had granted illegal tax breaks to Apple.
This followed the company's unexpected win in July at the bloc's
second-highest court, where judges said the European Commission
--the EU's competition enforcement arm-- didn't bring enough
evidence that Ireland had granted illegal tax breaks to Apple
between 2003 and 2014.
European Commission Executive Vice-President in charge of
competition and digital policy Margrethe Vestager on Friday said
the second-highest court had "made a number of errors", which led
her to appeal.
She also said the court had confirmed that EU governments need
to respect the bloc's strict state aid rules when determining their
taxation policies. "Making sure that all companies, big and small,
pay their fair share of tax remains a top priority for the
commission," Ms. Vestager said.
Apple did not immediately comment on the decision.
The total sum of EUR14.3 billion, which includes interest, will
remain parked in escrow until the European Court of Justice, the
bloc's highest court, renders its judgment.
-Sam Schechner in Paris contributed to this article
Write to Valentina Pop at valentina.pop@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 25, 2020 06:06 ET (10:06 GMT)
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