Ireland says ECJ’s Apple decision is “merely of historical relevance”, by Reuters

DUBLIN (Reuters) – The Irish government said Tuesday’s ruling by the European Court of Justice that it granted Apple (NASDAQ: then.

It said it would now begin the process of releasing assets from an escrow fund, estimated at 13.8 billion euros ($15 billion) late last year, after the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ordered recovery of funds. from Apple.

Ireland has long fought a 2016 European Commission order that said the iPhone maker benefited from two Irish tax rulings spanning more than two decades that artificially reduced its tax burden to 0.005 percent in 2014.

“The CJEU found that the tax paid was insufficient and that a higher amount of taxation should be recovered,” the statement said.

“The Irish position has always been that Ireland does not give preferential tax treatment to any company or taxpayer.”

Since the 2016 EU order, Ireland has changed rules on corporate residency, attribution of branch profits to non-resident companies operating in the state and adapted its tax rules in line with international agreements, it said.

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