Google and Apple Hit with Billions in Fines

EU's antitrust crackdown: Apple, Google lose legal battle

The tech giants, Apple and Google have faced a major setback by losing the court case resulting in 13 billion Euros and 2.4 billion Euros fine on Google.

The decision indicates the stand of the European Union on Big Tech, which has grown in recent times to include implementing extensive rules to limit the influence of leading tech companies.

Verdict in Favour of Apple

In the verdict in favor of Apple, the ECJ maintained a judgment taken in 2016 that says, Ireland gave Apple unlawful state aid that was later required to repay. According to sources, Ireland had provided Apple with illegal tax benefits valued at €13 billion. 

The legal battle against Apple was part of a crackdown by the EU’s outgoing antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager in agreements between multinational companies and EU countries that regulators saw as unfair state aid.

Apple Challenges the Court Decision

Apple challenged the court decision, and the EU’s General Court, which is the ECJ's lower-tier court, confirmed the contest in 2020, stating that the regulators failed to demonstrate that Apple had gained an unjustified benefit.

At the same time, Apple expressed its dissatisfaction with the ruling. “We always pay all the taxes we owe wherever we operate and there has never been a special deal,” a company spokesperson added in a statement.

Apple disclosed that it has contributed over US$20 billion in taxes to the U.S. government on the same earnings that the Commission contended should have been subject to Irish taxation.

The court rejected Google's request to overturn the €2.4 billion penalty imposed by the Commission in 2017.

Google faced a fine for exploiting its leading role in online search by giving preference to its own price comparison shopping platform over its rivals' services in over a dozen European nations.

“We are disappointed with the decision of the Court,” a Google spokesperson said, highlighting the modifications the firm implemented to its online shopping ads in Europe in 2017 to adhere to the Commission's ruling.