The European Commission is going to Europe’s supreme court to force Apple to still pay €13 billion in back taxes. A lower court earlier ruled that the decision should be reversed due to legal errors.
EU claims Apple underpaid taxes for years. EU member state Ireland allegedly underpaid tax to the US tech company for more than 20 years. The EU wants Apple to pay the tax arrears. The total amount involved is $13 billion.
Apple opposes the decision. The General Court of the European Union previously ruled that the decision should be reversed, as the European Commission had allegedly made legal errors. For instance, it would not have provided sufficient evidence that Apple obtained an unfair advantage through the tax structure used.
The European Commission is challenging this decision and is taking the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union. It wants the court to reverse the earlier decision and still order Apple to pay the alleged back taxes.