- The EU's top court ruled Apple must pay over 13 billion euros in back taxes.
- The decision ends a decadelong legal battle with the tech giant.
- The EU's competition chief argued Apple received unfair tax breaks from Ireland.
The European Union's top court just dealt Apple a major blow, ruling that the tech giant must pay more than 13 billion euros, or about $14 billion, in back taxes.
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on Tuesday that Apple must pay the back taxes to the Irish government, ending a decadelong legal battle.
"Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland is required to recover," the court said in a press release.
The European Commission started investigating Apple's tax payments in Ireland in 2014. By 2016, the EU's competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, said the commission found that Apple benefited from unfair tax breaks from the Irish government between 1991 and 2014 by paying a much lower rate than other companies.
The commission said in 2016 that Apple enjoyed a corporate tax rate as low as 0.005% in 2014, which had declined from 1% in 2003.
Apple CEO Tim Cook told the Irish Independent in 2016 that the tax-break claims were "political crap" and that Apple and Ireland had "played by the rules."
Apple and Ireland appealed the decision in 2019, and the General Court ruled in favor of the iPhone maker in 2020. The Court of Justice said it "sets aside" the lower court's ruling and gave its final judgment on the matter.
It's not the first time this year that Apple has been targeted by the EU.
In March, the European Commission fined Apple about $1.95 billion. It found that Apple abused its market dominance by restricting app developers from informing users that they could get cheaper music-service subscriptions outside iPhone apps. Apple, which is worth more than $3.3 trillion, said at the time that it planned to appeal the decision.
Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.