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U.S. bid to intervene in Apple Irish tax case rejected


Sheetal Sukhija
16 Dec 2017

DUBLIN, Ireland - After the U.S. government sought to intervene in Apple’s challenge against an EU order to pay back taxes of up to 13 billion euros, Europe’s second-highest court rejected the request.

The U.S. government’s bid was rejected because it failed to prove a direct interest in the outcome of the case.

iPhone maker Apple is said to have appealed to the Luxembourg-based General Court a year ago after the European Commission ruled that its “sweetheart” tax deal with Ireland was an illegal subsidy in breach of EU rules against unfair competition.

The EU decision was criticized by the then Obama administration, which said that the EU was helping itself to cash that should have ended up in the U.S.

In April, the U.S. intervention was filed but the move was objected by the Commission.

The court stated that it was unconvinced by the U.S. arguments regarding the alleged negative effects of the EU decision on its tax revenues, the bilateral tax deals with EU countries and its efforts to develop rules on transfer pricing in line with OECD rules.

On Friday, the judges ruled, “The United States of America has failed to establish the existence of a direct interest in the result of the case.”

Reports noted that the court also rejected a bid by IBEC Company Limited by Guarantee, a representative body for national and multinational companies operating in Ireland, to intervene in support of Apple and Ireland.

According to the court, the IBEC had failed to show that its members’ interests would be affected by the result of the case.

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