Apple could be ordered to relinquish €14.3 billion owed to the European Union and Ireland in the form of back taxes, according to an EU advisor with knowledge of the matter (via the Financial Times).

The comments were made by the advocate-general of the European Court of Justice Giovanni Pitruzzella, who stated that an earlier decision by the Court to forgive the amount of tax owed by Apple to Ireland “should be set aside.” Pitruzzella goes on to say that the EU ought “to carry out a new assessment” over the case which was last ruled in 2020 by the EU’s General Court in Apple’s favor.

The General Court ruled that the EU “had failed to show that Apple had received an illegal economic advantage in Ireland over tax.” Pitruzzella further claims that the General Court made serious mistakes when it reached its conclusion over the company’s tax dealings. As such, the Court of Justice is expected to deliver its own ruling on the case sometime next year.

While Pitruzzella’s comments are non-binding and unratified, they do show the direction that the Court of Justice, the highest court of the EU, is likely to pursue over this case. Apple issued the following statement over the General Court’s original ruling in its favor.

We thank the court for its time and ongoing consideration in this case. The General Court’s ruling was very clear that Apple received no selective advantage and no state aid, and we believe that should be upheld.

Apple statement

Apple is not the only company being investigated over its taxes in the EU. In 2013, an effort was launched to investigate “sweetheart deals” involving large corporations and certain EU member states. Officials from Europe’s bloc claim that Apple is effectively paying a tax rate of less than 1% of its revenue in the continent. In 2018, Ireland secured €14.3bn in disputed back taxes and interest from the company, which is currently held in an escrow account pending legal proceedings.

The EU launched similar tax investigations against Amazon and Starbucks in Luxembourg and the Netherlands, respectively. The General Court similarly ruled in both corporations’ favor, with the EU giving up on its tax pursuit in the case of Starbucks.