EU Wants a Bite Out of Apple: Appeals for Hefty $14.3 Billion in Back Taxes

On Tuesday, EU competition regulators appealed to the bloc's highest Court to override a lower tribunal and make Apple Inc AAPL pay a record €13 billion ($14.3 billion) in Irish back taxes.
The case marks EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager's most high-profile campaign against sweetheart deals between multinationals and European Union states, Reuters reports.
The outcome will determine whether member states will trade off international tax breaks for jobs and investments, Commission lawyer Paul-John Loewenthal told the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
The European Commission, in a 2016 decision, said two Irish tax rulings had, for more than two decades, artificially reduced Apple's tax burden.
The General Court in 2020 said regulators had not met the legal standard to show Apple had enjoyed an unfair advantage.
Apple built up reserves to pay those U.S. taxes and is paying around €20 billion in tax in the U.S. on the same profits that the Commission says should have been taxed by Ireland, Apple lawyer Daniel Beard told the Court.
Apple held $55.9 billion in cash and equivalents as of April 1.
Price Action: AAPL shares traded lower by 1.30% at $171.94 on the last check Tuesday.
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