1st LD: EU orders Apple to repay 13 bln euros to Ireland

The European Union (EU) said U.S. tech giant Apple must repay up to 13 billion euros (14.5 billion U.S. dollars) to Irish government after rulings that some tax treatment granted by Ireland to Apple was illegal under EU state aid rules.

"The European Commission has concluded that Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to 13 billion euros to Apple. This is illegal under EU state aid rules, because it allowed Apple to pay substantially less tax than other businesses," the statement said.

Ireland must now recover the unpaid taxes in Ireland from Apple for the years 2003 to 2014 of up to 13 billion euros, plus interest, it added.

Margrethe Vestager,the EU Commissioner in charge of competition, said "selective treatment" in Ireland allowed Apple to pay an effective corporate tax rate of 1 percent on its European profits in 2003 down to 0.005 percent in 2014. Endit