EU Seeks to Overturn Apple’s Victory in $15.7 Billion Tax Dispute

According to a summary of the appeal published earlier today, the European Union (EU) is looking to overturn Apple’s victory in a $15.7 billion tax dispute, saying judges used “contradictory reasoning” when they found that Apple’s Irish units weren’t liable for huge payments, Bloomberg reports.

Back in July, an EU court had ruled that Apple did not need to pay $15.7 billion in back taxes to Ireland as the European Commission officials failed to demonstrate that Apple had gained an unfair competitive advantage through the Irish tax laws.

The decision was a dramatic setback to Commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s probes of national tax rulings that she says were an illegal subsidy for some large multinational firms.

The EU said that the lower court improperly conflated Apple’s lack of employees at two Irish units and the company’s level of responsibility for intellectual property on iPhone and iPad sales across Europe. Judges failed to properly weigh the EU’s analysis of the Irish branches and showed “contradictory reasoning” in a separate part of their findings.

Meanwhile, Apple has said in a statement that the EU court “categorically annulled the commission’s case in July and the facts have not changed since then.”