Europe’s top court advisor backs $14 bn tax case against Apple: Report

Advocate General Giovanni Pitruzzella, an adviser to Europe’s top court, recommended on Thursday that an EU court make a new assessment in the 13 billion euros ($14-billion) tax case against Apple.

The opinion of Advocate General Pitruzzella is not binding on the court but is critical for the long-running case, according to reports.

The tax case against Apple, spearheaded by the EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, has significant implications for corporate tax liabilities.

In May this year, EU competition regulators appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to overturn a previous ruling and order Apple to pay a record-breaking $14 billion in Irish back taxes.

In July 2020, Apple scored a big win when Europe’s second highest court rejected an EU order for the Cupertino-based iPhone maker to pay $15 billion in Irish back taxes.

The case goes back to August 2016 when the European Commission said that Apple benefited from illegal tax benefits in Ireland from 2003 to 2014.

In 2016, the EU ordered the iPhone maker to pay almost $15 billion in back taxes to Ireland as it believed Ireland had not been collecting enough taxes and instead had been giving companies like Apple too big of a break on its already low 12.5 per cent tax rate.

Apple reportedly moved its cash to the small island of Jersey off the south coast of England to avoid further Irish taxation.