The European Commission today announced that it has appealed the EU General Court’s July 15 ruling in the Apple State aid case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The EU General Court’s ruling annulled an August 2016 EU Commission decision that found that Ireland granted illegal State aid to Apple entities through selective tax breaks and that ordered Apple to pay EUR 13 billion (USD (15.1 billion) in additional taxes to Ireland.
In its July 15, ruling the General Court determined that the EU Commission failed to satisfy its burden of proof that an advantage was granted by Ireland to Apple.
Today, the Commission announced it will now challenge that General Court ruling.
“The General Court judgment raises important legal issues that are of relevance to the Commission in its application of State aid rules to tax planning cases. The Commission also respectfully considers that 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,” European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
The deadline to lodge the appeal was today.
Ireland Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, in a statement today, noted the European Commission’s announcement but said that Ireland had not yet received notice of the appeal. The Ireland Department of Finance, in a statement, contended that no state aid was given to Apple and that the Irish branches of the relevant Apple companies paid the full amount of tax due in accordance with the law.
The Department of Finance also noted that the appeal process could take up to two years.
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