Apple must pay €13 billion in back taxes after losing final appeal

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | SOPA Images )

Apple has suffered a significant defeat after the EU’s top court ruled that the iPhone maker must pay €13 billion in back taxes, overturning an earlier decision in the Big Tech group’s favor.

The ruling relates to a 2016 case when the EU’s competition chief Margrethe Vestager said that Ireland had given the company an illegal sweetheart deal, amounting to a tax rate of less than 1 percent.

The European Court of Justice said on Tuesday in its final ruling that it “confirms the European Commission’s 2016 decision: Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland is required to recover.”