Apple's clash with EU competition regulators comes to a head on Wednesday as Europe's second-highest court rules on whether it has to pay 13 billion euros in Irish back taxes, a key part of the EU's crackdown against sweetheart tax deals.
In its order four years ago, the European Commission said Apple benefited from illegal state aid via two Irish tax rulings that artificially reduced its tax burden for over two decades - to as low as 0.005per cent in 2014.Defeat for European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager could weaken or delay pending cases against Ikea's and Nike's deals with the Netherlands, as well as Huhtamaki's agreement with Luxembourg.
The Apple dispute is seen by some analysts as a lose-lose situation for Ireland, which has appealed against the Commission's order alongside the iPhone maker. Should Ireland lose, the government will be castigated by the same politicians for launching the appeal. A ruling in favour of the Commission could also raise questions about the application of Ireland's tax code at a sensitive time, when new global rules for taxing digital giants are being debated.
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