Apple wins appeal over tax

APPLE and Ireland have won their appeal against the European Commission over a €13 billion

(£11.6 bn) tax bill.

The General Court in Luxembourg annulled the decision taken by the commission over Irish tax rulings in favour of the tech giant.

The commission previously said the tech giant paid an effective corporate tax rate of just 1% on profits from sales made across the EU by routing them through a firm based in Ireland.

The commission said this constituted illegal aid given to Apple by the Irish state.

However, in its judgment, the General Court stated that the commission was “wrong” to declare that Apple

Sales International (ASI) and Apple Operations Europe (AOE) had been granted a selective economic advantage and, by extension, state aid.

The court ruled the commission did not succeed in showing to the “requisite legal standard” that there was an advantage.

In its ruling, it said: “The General Court considers that the commission did not succeed in demonstrating, in its subsidy line of reasoning, methodological errors in the contested tax rulings which would have led to a reduction in ASI and AOE’S chargeable profits.