$16.5B Apple tax windfall will pay for new electricity and water infrastructure in Ireland

WHAT HAPPENED?

In 2016, the European Commission’s competition chief Margrethe Vestager accused Ireland of having granted Apple illegal tax benefits, unfairly diverting investment away from other countries.

Both Apple and Ireland, whose low tax rates helped it attract Big Tech companies to set up their European headquarters, successfully challenged the EU ruling.

But the European Court of Justice has now sided with Vestager, agreeing Apple had unduly benefited from unfair loopholes in Ireland's tax regime, and that the company must now hand Ireland 13 billion euros in back payments.

source: Explainer: Why does Apple have to pay Ireland $14.4 billion?

Calling Ireland socialist after they attracted the entirety of Silicon Valley by not taxing them in the first place is rich. A lot of taxing problems we have in the EU are because of countries like Ireland.