Apple has been ordered to pay Ireland €13bn (£11bn; $14bn) in unpaid taxes by Europe’s top court, putting an end to an eight-year row.

The European Commission accused Ireland of giving Apple illegal tax advantages in 2016, but Ireland has consistently argued against the need for the tax to be paid.

The Irish government said it would respect the ruling.

Apple said it was disappointed with the decision and accused the European Commission of “trying to retroactively change the rules”.

A separate European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on Tuesday also brought a long-running case with Google to a close, with the company ordered to pay a €2.4bn (£2bn) fine for market dominance abuse.

  • @JoshuaFalken
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    267 days ago

    Strikes me as fishy that the finance ministry went to court with Apple to say ‘no don’t pay tax’.

    If they don’t want the tax, have the cheque made out to the EU.

    • @sazey
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      416 days ago

      Ireland’s whole shtick is low corporate taxes which has lead to boom times in recent years. Makes sense they would want to uphold that reputation, but well played to them as this decision makes it a win-win. I guess they must take these taxes now, awww shucks.