Apple, Ireland lose €13bn sweetheart tax deal case in victory for EU's 'tax lady'
Low tax bills paid by the tech giant were an unlawful subsidy, EU judges ruled, in a move which EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager hailed as a 'big win' for tax justice.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The European Commission has won two court cases against big tech companies Apple and Google.
00:08Apple will now have to return 13 billion euros in taxes to Ireland
00:13after the European Court of Justice revised the previous ruling
00:16and concluded that the US company did benefit from artificially low taxes between 1991 and 2014.
00:24Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid, which Ireland now has to recover.
00:31Few member states were relying on tax rulings and aggressive tax planning arrangements
00:37to become a more attractive destination for multinational investment.
00:43This harmed other member states and the European taxpayer, of course.
00:47This is the final judgment, but in a statement,
00:50Apple, whose European headquarters are in Ireland, still expressed disagreement
00:54and insisted that there has never been a special deal.
00:58The US company believes the Commission is now trying to retroactively change the rules
01:02and ignore that Apple was already paying taxes in the US.
01:06But for Oxfam, this is a case of tax justice that will help small companies,
01:11but above all, citizens that will benefit from recovering taxes.
01:15We are just talking about fair taxation.
01:19When a company like Apple paid 0.005%, this is unfair.
01:25There are no European citizens, maybe some billionaires, that pay so few taxes.
01:31So I think it's really an issue of eleven-play field.
01:36And I mean, we should pretend companies and also wealthiest individuals to pay more.
01:43These are not profits then that go into investment.
01:48In the second case, the European Commission also won a judgment in its favour against Google Shopping.
01:54The European Court of Justice ruled that the company favoured their own services over their competition,
01:59abusing their dominant position in the market.