Irish government responds to €13bn Apple tax case

The landmark court decision was made on Tuesday morning.

A statement issued on Tuesday morning reads: "The CJEU has found that the tax paid was insufficient and that a greater amount of taxation was required to be recovered.

"Ireland will of course respect the findings of the Court regarding the tax due in this case," the statement added.

"Today's judgment provides the final determination in this case and the process of transferring the assets in the Escrow Fund to Ireland will now commence in the manner prescribed in the Deed governing the operations of the Escrow Fund."

The statement went on to describe the findings as of ‘historical relevance only’, adding that it has already introduced changes to the law regarding corporate residence rules.

Earlier today the European Court of Justice set aside a previous lower court ruling and ordered Apple to pay €13 billion in taxes to the Irish state.

The Irish government must collect the €13 billion windfall.

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.

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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