On Tuesday, September 10, 2024, the Supreme Court of Europe ruled against Apple in a 10-year legal battle over the American tech company’s tax affairs in Ireland. Apple will have to pay 13 billion euros in back taxes. This was reported by CNBC.

The case was first opened in 2014, when the European Commission launched an investigation into illegal tax advantages that Apple receives in Ireland, where the company’s EU headquarters are located. In 2016, the European Commission won the case and ordered the Irish government to pay back €13 billion in back taxes.

The American tech giant and the Irish government appealed, and in 2020, the EU General Court sided with them, overturning the 2016 decision. Back then, the court noted that the European Commission had not provided sufficient evidence that Ireland had given the tech giant an illegal tax advantage.

Now, in a new appeal by the European Commission, the Supreme Court of Europe has ruled against the company and again ordered Ireland to pay back €13 billion in outstanding taxes, overturning the previous verdict of the General Court of the EU.

“The European Commission is trying to retroactively change the rules and ignore that, as required by international tax law, our income was already subject to taxes in the US,” Apple said in a statement to Reuters.

This is one of many similar cases by EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, who is fighting similar tax deals by large US tech companies in the EU.