Apple and Google Face Hefty Tax Bills and Fines Amid EU's Big Tech Crackdown
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Apple and Google have been ordered to pay significant tax bills and fines due to the European Union's crackdown on Big Tech.
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Apple's Tax Bill
Apple has been ordered to pay €13 billion ($14.4 billion) in back taxes to Ireland. This decision stems from a 2016 ruling by the European Commission, which found that Apple benefited from two Irish tax rulings for over two decades, artificially reducing its tax burden to as low as 0.005% in 2014. The European Court of Justice upheld this ruling, stating that Ireland granted Apple unlawful state aid, which must be recovered. Apple and Ireland had previously appealed the ruling, but the European Court of Justice's final decision stands, making the tax bill payable to Ireland.
Google's Antitrust Fine
Google has been fined €2.4 billion ($2.67 billion) for abusing its dominant position in the search engine market. The European Commission accused Google of using its own price comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals. The European Court of Justice upheld this fine, ruling that Google's conduct was discriminatory and did not fall within the scope of competition on the merits. Google had made changes in 2017 to comply with the European Commission's decision, but the court found these changes insufficient to overturn the fine.
