Apple, Ireland lose €13bn sweetheart tax deal case in victory for EU's 'tax lady'

euronews (in English)

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.

Transcript

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.

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