EC to appeal court decision on Apple tax case

The European Commission has decided to appeal a European court ruling which absolved U.S. technology giant Apple from repaying Ireland 13 billion euros in tax arrears, the Commission's Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said on Friday, reported Xinhua.

"In its judgment the General Court has made a number of errors of law. For this reason, the Commission is bringing this matter before the European Court of Justice," said Vestager in a statement.

The General Court ruling, handed down in July, effectively annulled an August 2016 European Commission decision finding that Ireland granted illegal State aid to Apple through selective tax breaks.

The General Court said that the Commission had wrongly declared that Apple Sales International (ASI) and Apple Operations Europe (AOE), incorporated in Ireland but not tax resident in the country, had been granted a selective economic advantage.

In 2016, the European Union (EU) accused Ireland of allowing Apple to park revenue earned in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India and sparing it almost all the taxation due. According to Brussels, this gave Apple an advantage over other companies, allowing it to avoid Irish taxes between 2003 and 2014. This, the European Commission said, constituted illegal "state aid" by Ireland.

"While Member States have competence in determining their taxation laws taxation, they must do so in respect of EU law, including State aid rules. If Member States give certain multinational companies tax advantages not available to their rivals, this harms fair competition in the European Union in breach of State aid rules," said Vestager.