A legal adviser to the European Court of Justice has argued a ruling allowing Apple to avoid the EU’s attempted €13bn (US$13.918 billion) tax clawback should be set aside.
Theo Leggett and Michael Race for The Beeb:
Three years ago, a ruling which found Apple had been given illegal tax breaks by the Irish government was overturned.
But Advocate General Giovanni Pitruzzella at the Court of Justice said the case should be reviewed again.
He argued a series of legal errors had been made and the ruling in Apple’s favour had failed “to assess correctly the substance and consequences of certain methodological errors that, according to the Commission decision, vitiated the tax rulings”.The legal opinion is not a final verdict and is non-binding, but the court does tend to agree with such opinions in the majority of cases.
Reuters:
While Apple and Dublin appealed against the tax order, Apple nevertheless had to hand over the full amount, which Ireland has been holding in an escrow account.
The Irish government has long said that even if it loses the its appeal and gets to keep the money, other EU member states will make claims that they are owed some of the back taxes.
“We thank the court for its time and ongoing consideration in this case. The General Court’s ruling was very clear that Apple received no selective advantage and no state aid, and we believe that should be upheld,” an Apple spokesperson said.
MacDailyNews Take: $13.918 billion more for bureaucrats to waste on their “programs?” They’ll never give up the fight to take even more of Apple’s money to throw down their ever-voracious big gubmint rathole.
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