The EU Commission confirms that Ireland granted illegal State aid to a Big Tech company (Apple)

On 30 August 2016, the EU commission confirmed that in their view, Ireland granted illegal State Aid to Apple. Such State Aid is allegedly granted in the form of a selective tax treatment. The decision is the latest in the EU Commission’s moves to use State Aid principles in a direct tax context and, in particular, in relation to tax rulings provided by Member States to multinationals. The Commission’s concern, similar to the recent McDonald’s case, is not the existence of tax rulings per se, but in the granting of favourable tax rulings in inappropriate cases where, in the EU Commission’s view, national and international tax principles were not met. Background Following the recent stream of EU Commission decisions with respect to State Aid in the form of selective tax benefits