A ‘sweetheart deal’
The antitrust chief said that a ‘sweetheart deal’ between the Irish government and Apple meant that the iPhone-maker paid tax rates of below 1% for years. This deal came in a uniquely preferential package that counted as ‘illegal state aid’. Vestager said in 2016: Both the Irish government and Apple refuted these claims. However, judges of the General Court of the European Union overturned that decision. These judges said in a statement that the Commission failed showing to the requisite legal standard that Apple had any advantage from this arrangement. The Commission now has two months and ten days to appeal the overruling decision. The trading session [July 14th] closed at $388.23 price per AAPL share.
