Apple Inc. (AAPL) – Get report Shares rose higher on Wednesday after Europe’s second-highest court ruled in favor of the tech giant in a lengthy battle for more than $ 15 billion in unpaid taxes.
The General Court said that a 2016 ruling against Apple, in a case filed by the European Commission’s competition authorities, should be annulled “because the Commission failed to demonstrate the required legal standard that there was an advantage” in the tax agreement of Apple with the Republic of Ireland that would have violated EU rules.
The original European Commission order had asked Apple to pay 13 billion euros ($ 15 billion) in back taxes to the Irish government after authorities said they had both agreed to an unfair tax deal as part of Apple’s investment in the Republic.
“We thank the General Court,” Apple said in a statement. “We are pleased that they have overturned the Commission’s case. This case was not about how much tax we pay, but where we should pay it. We are proud to be the world’s largest taxpayer.”
Apple’s shares were marked 1.6% higher in early operations after the European court ruling, which can be appealed, to change hands at $ 393.92 each.
The Irish government has always denied reaching an unfair agreement on tax payments with Apple, and in fact lobbied against the $ 15 billion payment since the Commission made its first request more than four years ago.
Apple, for its part, accused the EU of “retroactively” changing the rules regarding the calculation of income taxes, arguing that payments should be made in the United States, not Europe.
Apple will post earnings for the three months ending June, its fiscal third quarter, on Thursday, July 30, and analysts are looking for a $ 2 per share end result in sales of $ 51.5 billion, according to early Street estimates.
Apple beat Street’s estimates for both its bottom line and second quarter, which ended in March, with sales of $ 58.3 billion and earnings of $ 2.55 per share.
Apple said service revenue rose 17% to a record $ 13.3 billion, as shelter-in-place requests attracted new subscribers to the group’s cloud-based suite of offerings, such as Apple Music and Apple Pay. . However, he said that short-term uncertainty has forced the group to start its second consecutive quarter without providing financial guidance to investors, although it forecast a $ 1.5 billion headwind due to the strength of the dollar. U.S.
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