[SirMittens]

This is not a fine, tho. It's just the amount that Apple would have paid in taxes, if the special deal didn't exist.

The EU is not imposing any fines on Apple. They're just ordering Ireland to collect the taxes owed to them (Ireland), since the tax deal was found to be unfair/illegal.

[throw310822]

Yes. Which if you think about it, is doubly unfair. First Ireland reaped the benefits of keeping Apple in the country; then it gets paid Apple's taxes anyway. Sure, this puts a stop to the practice and makes it much harder to sell such deals in the future, but for the moment Ireland had its apple cake and ate it, too.

[hirako2000]

It would be unfair if the term was fair to begin with, but it wasn't, according to that court.

What would be interesting is to see Apple revealing the cost of its lobbying, to claim a claw back. It won't.

It turned out great for Ireland yes, it is odd the court didn't fine that country for offering illegal tax terms.

[throw310822]

I think that the court ruled that it was unfair to other countries, not to Ireland. Ireland gained from the deal, didn't lose anything.

[orwin]

No, it's unfair to other _companies_. The issue like I said was that Apple was taxed ~1%, when others were taxed ~12%, which impact fair competition.

[throw310822]

True. In any case, not unfair to Ireland.