How the Apple Ireland tax case unfolded

Second Irish tax ruling

Commission adopts state aid decision

Commission Decision (EU) 2017/1283 on State aid SA.38373 implemented by Ireland to Apple. Article 1 states that the tax rulings issued by Ireland on 29 January 1991 and 23 May 2007 in favour of Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe constitute aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU that was unlawfully put into effect in breach of Article 108(3) and is incompatible with the internal market. The Commission said Ireland must recover the aid.

General Court annuls the decision

Judgment in Joined Cases T-778/16 Ireland v Commission and T-892/16 Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe v Commission (Press Release No 90/20). The General Court annulled the Commission's decision, finding that the Commission did not succeed in showing to the requisite legal standard that there was an advantage under Article 107(1) TFEU.

Escrow fund dissolved after transfers to the State

Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2024, Chapter 26, Winding up of the Ireland Apple escrow fund. Apple paid 14.285 billion euros (13.131 billion euros of tax and 1.154 billion euros of interest) into the escrow fund in 2018. After the judgment, 12.677 billion euros was paid to Revenue under corporation tax assessments for accounting periods from 2003 to 2014 and 1.567 billion euros was transferred to the Exchequer as non-tax receipts, with withdrawals between October 2024 and May 2025. The fund was dissolved with effect from 13 May 2025.