European Union regulators will decide by Christmas whether Apple’s tax deals in Ireland are illegal, Dow Jones Business News reports.
Ireland’s Finance Minister Michael Noonan addressed the company’s ongoing legal battle on his way to a meeting, saying “We’re expecting an adjudication on Apple maybe in the next few weeks, but certainly between now and Christmas.” The EU recently ruled against Starbucks and Fiat in similar cases, concluding that the companies had received tens of millions of euros in illegal state aid from the Netherlands and Luxembourg respectively.
Noonan said it wasn’t yet clear whether the EU decision would go against Apple, but that Ireland would “deal with that when the announcement comes.” The EU began its investigation into Apple last year after Apple was accused of moving $8.9 billion in untaxed profits from Australia to Ireland.
