Apple's EU tax dispute

Apple's EU tax dispute refers to an investigation by the European Commission into tax arrangements between Apple and Ireland, which allowed the company to pay close to zero corporate tax over 10 years.

On 29 August 2016, after a two-year investigation, European Commission ordered Apple to pay €13 billion, plus interest, in unpaid Irish taxes from 2004–14 to the Irish state. It was the largest corporate tax fine (in fact a recovery order, technically not a fine) in history. Helena Malikova, an EU civil servant, was credited with uncovering the extent of the tax avoidance by Apple, namely that the company was paying only 0.005 per cent tax on profits booked through its Irish subsidiary. In November 2016, the Irish government formally appealed the ruling, claiming there was no violation of Irish tax law, and that the commission's action was "an intrusion into Irish sovereignty", as national tax policy is excluded from EU treaties. In November 2016, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced Apple would appeal, and in September 2018, Apple lodged €13 billion to an escrow account, pending appeal. In July 2020, the European General Court struck down EU tax decision as illegal, ruling in favor of Apple.

The issue was Apple's variation of the Double Irish tax system, which, from 2004 to 2014, Apple used to shield €110.8 billion of non–US profits from tax.

On 9 January 2015, Apple informed the Commission that it closed its hybrid–Double Irish, base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) tool. In Q1 2015, Apple restructured into a new Irish BEPS tool called the Capital Allowances for Intangible Assets (CAIA) tool, also called the Green Jersey. Apple's Q1 2015 restructuring required a 12 July 2016 restatement of Irish 2015 GDP, which increased it by 26.3 per cent (later revised to 34.4 per cent); the restatement was called "leprechaun economics", and led to new EU inquiries in 2017, and accusations in June 2018, that Ireland was the world's largest tax haven.

Ireland's rejection of the EU Commission's "windfall" in back-taxes surprised some.

On 15 July 2020, the European General Court ruled that the Commission "did not succeed in showing to the requisite legal standard" that Apple had received tax advantages from Ireland, and ruled in favour of Apple.

The European Commission appealed the decision of the lower court before the European Court of Justice, the supreme court in matters of EU law.

On 10 September 2024 the European Court of Justice set aside the judgment of the lower General Court, which previously overturned the Commission’s decision, by reasoning that it contained legal errors. The 2016 decision by the European Commission was fully reinstated in this final judgement. As a consequence Apple is ordered to pay €13 billion, in unpaid Irish taxes.