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Apple to fight $14 billion tax battle in European court next month

The iPhone maker and Ireland have argued against the tax bill since the EU sent it in 2016.

Katie Collins Senior European Correspondent
Katie a UK-based news reporter and features writer. Officially, she is CNET's European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she serves as CNET's Taylor Swift correspondent. You can also find her writing about tech for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a "living synth" by London's Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand.
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In this photo illustration a American multinational

Apple is fighting to save its billions.

 Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Apple is heading to court next month to fight a 13 billion euro ($14.4 billion) tax bill handed down by the European Union in 2016. Europe's General Court will hear Apple's appeal on Sept. 17 and 18, Bloomberg reported Friday.

The case relates to the bill that the EU Competition Commission ordered Ireland to recoup in August 2016. The commission asserted that the tech giant had an unfair advantage that allowed it pay less tax than it should in Ireland, where its EU headquarters are located. 

Apple CEO  Tim Cook denounced the tax bill as "political crap" and vowed to appeal. The US government tried, but failed, to intervene. Ireland, which has a tax system that attracts many US tech companies to its shores, also disagrees with the EU's decision and will argue alongside Apple in court.

Apple has already started repaying some of the money the EU says it owes. The money is currently in an escrow account. The company didn't respond to a request for comment.

The case is one of several current appeals against Europe's tax decisions related to multinational companies. A spokeswoman for the Competition Commission declined to comment.