Brussels has opened the door for European and US revenue authorities to claim a share of its €13bn recovery order from Apple after declaring the company’s Irish tax regime unlawful.
The European Commission ordered Ireland to claw back a record-breaking tax bill after finding the US tech group enjoyed a quarter of a century of illegal state support — prompting a furious response from Apple and Washington.
Margrethe Vestager, competition commissioner, accused the world’s biggest company by market value of sidestepping taxes by channelling most of its non-US sales and profits through artificial corporate entities not required to pay tax anywhere.