The Irish government must collect the €13 billion windfall.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ordered Apple to pay Ireland €13 billion in unpaid taxes.
The ECJ set aside a previous ruling from the lower court, which overturned the European Commission’s original finding that Apple had underpaid taxes to Ireland between 2003 and 2014.
The lower courts original ruling has now been found to have involved a series of errors, which led to the ECJ to set is aside.
“The Court of Justice gives final judgment in the matter and confirms the European Commission’s 2016 decision: Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland is required to recover,” the court said this week.
The €13bn has been sitting in an escrow account for the past six years.
Apple must pay Ireland €13bn in unpaid taxes after losing court battle
The ruling comes after an eight year back and forth involving the tech giant, since the European’s initial ruling.
The ruling involved how Apple’s profits were treated for tax purposes between the years from 1991 to 2014.
The tax arrangements were deemed to be illegal due to the fact that other companies were not able to obtain the same advantages.
Both Apple and Ireland rejected the commission’s findings, claiming that the tech company did not receive special treatment from the Irish State.
“The European Commission is trying to retroactively change the rules and ignore that, as required by international tax law, our income was already subject to taxes in the U.S.,” Apple said in a statement, according to Reuters.
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