Apple sues a European tax order worth 13 billion euros

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – Apple (AAPL.O) will launch on Tuesday a judicial appeal against an order from the European Commission to pay 13 billion euros of Irish tax arrears in connection with a landmark case within the framework of the EU crackdown on tax evasion by multinationals.

The iPhone maker is expected to send a six-person delegation led by Chief Financial Officer, Luca Maestri, to the two-day hearing before the Luxembourg District Court, the second-largest EU court. .

In August 2016, the Commission stated that the tax decisions taken by Ireland in 1991 and 2007 had artificially reduced Apple's tax burden for more than two decades, which actually made it an aid to taxpayers. Illegal state.

EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the 0.005% tax rate paid by Apple's main Irish unit in 2014 was an example of the company's unusually low payments.

Apple should argue that it did nothing wrong because it had followed Irish and US tax laws. He presented similar arguments in a blog following a tax decision taken by the European Union two years ago.

He will tell the court that most of his taxes are due to the United States, because most of the value of his products, including design, engineering and development, is there.

Ireland, which has accused the Commission of having exceeded its powers and undermined the national sovereignty of the Member States on tax issues, is also challenging the EU decision.

The Irish tax system is a key attraction for multinational companies, which employ about 10% of the country's workforce.

Luxembourg supports Ireland while Poland supports the Commission. Vestager has also been looking for good deals from the Netherlands to Starbucks (SBUX.O), From Luxembourg to Amazon (AMZN.O), Fiat (FCHA.MI) and Engie (ENGIE.PA) and a UK tax system for multinationals.

The fiscal repression of the European executive suffered a setback last February when the court overturned its decision against Belgian tax relief benefiting BP (BP.L), BASF (BASFn.DE) and more than 30 other multinationals, claiming that it was not a scheme of aid.

However, the Commission relaunched this case on Monday. [B5N25N00B]

Joined Cases Apple are T-778/16 Ireland v Commission and T-892/16, Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe v Commission.