European Court of Justice Final judgment: “Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland is required to recover”.
Apple’s previous successful appeal has now been thrown out.
The EU’s highest could says what Apple received were “illegal tax benefits” between 1991 to 2014. The European Commission has previously valued the tax breaks at €13 billion. The Irish state must now recover that money from Apple.
The Irish government said it will now claim the money back.
In a statement, Ireland’s Department of Finance said the court had “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.”
Apple said it was disappointed and continues to reject claims it has not paid the taxes it should have done.
“We always pay all the taxes we owe wherever we operate and there has never been a special deal. Apple is proud to be an engine of growth and innovation across Europe and around the world, and to consistently be one of the largest taxpayers in the world”, the company said in a statement.