The EU’s competition watchdog isn’t having it anymore when it comes to large multinationals using tax-minimization vehicles in EU countries to avoid paying taxes. Earlier today the European Commission levied a €250 million bill after it found that Amazon received illegal state aid from Luxembourg. Now the European Commission has announced it’s taking Ireland to court for “failure to recover illegal tax benefits from Apple” that are worth up to €13 billion (about $15.2 billion). In a statement EC Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said:
“Ireland has to recover up to 13 billion euros in illegal State aid from Apple. However, more than one year after the Commission adopted this decision, Ireland has still not recovered the money, also not in part. We of course understand that recovery in certain cases may be more complex than in others, and we are always ready to assist. But Member States need to make sufficient progress to restore competition. That is why we have today decided to refer Ireland to the EU Court for failing to implement our decision.”
Apple has not issued a comment on the matter yet.
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