Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
The EU’s second-highest court has overturned a ruling that ordered Apple to pay a record €13 billion ($14.9 billion) in back taxes to the Irish government.
The ruling was made by the European Commission in 2016 and was seen as a significant win for Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust chief. Vestager concluded that a “sweetheart deal” from the Irish government meant the iPhone-maker paid an effective tax rate of less than 1 percent for years; a uniquely preferential deal that counted as “illegal state aid.”
“Member States cannot give tax benefits to selected companies – this is illegal under EU state aid rules,” said Vestager in 2016. “The Commission’s investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which…