Apple expects a European Commission appeal against the decision of Europe's second highest court in the €13bn state aid case involving Ireland to focus on the factual analysis contained in the judgement.
The European Court of Justice is set to hear the appeal on May 23rd.
In 2016, the Commission found that Apple had received illegal state aid from Ireland over a ten-year period between 2004 and 2014 and sought the repayment of over €13bn in unpaid taxes.
Apple and Ireland appealed the decision to the European courts and were successful in the General Court in 2020.
But that judgement was subsequently appealed by the European Commission, with the stage now set for a hearing in just under a fortnight’s time.
Apple sources expect that appeal will focus on undermining the General Court’s factual analysis, because the tech firm does not believe there is a legal basis for the appeal to succeed.
It is understood that the company continues to hold the view that the case is not about how much it owes, but where it owes it.
Between 2003 and 2014, the company paid €577m in tax to Revenue here in Ireland, representing 12.5% of what it claims were its profits here.
Ireland is also a party to the appeal, although it will have a separate legal team to Apple.
The hearing is expected to take a day or two, with the Advocate General’s opinion likely to be delivered between three to six months later and the final ruling up to 12 months after the appeal is heard.
