Apple on Tuesday argued that the European Union's order for it to pay 13 billion euros ($14.3 billion) in back taxes to Ireland "defies reality and common sense," as it kicked off its legal challenge against the ruling.

European Commisssion
According to Reuters, Apple also said the European Commission was using its powers "to retrofit changes to national law," which would create legal uncertainty for businesses.

Apple sent a six-person delegation led by its CFO Luca Maestri to the two-day court hearing taking place over Tuesday and Wednesday in Luxembourg. The company is arguing the same case that CEO Tim Cook made in a public letter about the tax ruling three years ago; namely, that Apple follows the law and pays all the taxes it owes in every country where it operates, including Ireland.

Apple also argues that nearly all of its research and development takes place in the United States, which is where the company pays the majority of its taxes.

"The Commission contends that essentially all of Apple's profits from all of its sales outside the Americas must be attributed to two branches in Ireland," Apple's lawyer Daniel Beard told the court.

He said the fact the iPhone, the iPad, the App Store, other Apple products and services and key intellectual property rights were developed in the United States, and not in Ireland, showed the flaws in the Commission's case.

"The branches' activities did not involve creating, developing or managing those rights. Based on the facts of this case, the primary line defies reality and common sense," Beard said.

"The activities of these two branches in Ireland simply could not be responsible for generating almost all of Apple's profits outside the Americas."

In 2016, the European Commission found Apple received illegal state aid from Ireland. Apple and Ireland both appealed the ruling, but the European Commission opened litigation against Ireland in October 2017 for its failure to procure Apple's back taxes, and Apple has already almost finished paying the back taxes it owes. If the order is overturned, the money will be returned to Apple.

Top Rated Comments

Janschi Avatar
72 months ago
Apple should pay. We customers pay premium prices and Apple should pay their premium tax tbh. Ireland could benefit so much from the tax money and also other countries as well.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
apolloa Avatar
72 months ago
Really Apple? Sorry but I also think paying just 0.005% tax ‘defies reality and common sense’!

It’s also a disgusting slap in the face of everyone else in society paying for your shortfall in taxes!

It was a clear breach of EU tax laws and EVERYONE knew it!
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
justperry Avatar
72 months ago
Really Apple? Sorry but I also think paying just 0.005% tax ‘defies reality and common sense’!

It’s also a disgusting slap in the face of everyone else in society paying for your shortfall in taxes!

It was a clear breach of EU tax laws and EVERYONE knew it!
Some of our American friends think otherwise, just look at the comments here and in former articles concerning this topic.
Most of them seem to be misinformed.
The EU slapped more fines on companies such as Microsoft and Google, did they ever overturn those fines...Nope.
Now only if the EU would do the same to Facebook, matter of time...not if.
I really don't get it why some of our American friends are so hardheaded on this topic, they are or misinformed or just think the EU needs more money, amongst other reasons.


Ireland is in the EU, they must abide by EU law, you can not give preferential treatment to a company (State sponsoring), that's unfair for others, therefor Apple has to pay the tax other company pays, they clearly did not.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Hanson Eigilson Avatar
72 months ago
'Defies Reality and Common Sense'....that's ritch
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarpalMac Avatar
72 months ago
Some of our American friends think otherwise, just look at the comments here and in former articles concerning this topic.
Most of them seem to be misinformed.
The EU slapped more fines on companies such as Microsoft and Google, did they ever overturn those fines...Nope.
Now only if the EU would do the same to Facebook, matter of time...not if.
I really don't get it why some of our American friends are so hardheaded on this topic, they are or misinformed or just think the EU needs more money, amongst other reasons.


Ireland is in the EU, they must abide by EU law, you can not give preferential treatment to a company (State sponsoring), that's unfair for others, therefor Apple has to pay the tax other company pays, they clearly did not.
People on here who defend Apple clearly have never dealt B2B with them, they are both aggressive and razor sharp. They know what they are doing business wise and happy to use their enviable position to further serve and benefit themselves.

Fact is they entered into this deal and should have (and most definitely would have) always known that the EU might come a knocking, as this breaches their law. That really is the end of discussion. There is no defence, other than of course that from the ever faithful ADL.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
saqibhasan Avatar
72 months ago
People can voluntarily pay for those things
Lol. Lol.

I can’t even begin to understand this comment. Lol
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...