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Apple Takes on EU’s Vestager in Record $14 Billion Tax Fight

  • EU court set two-day hearings for Apple, Ireland challenges
  • Ruling in a few months could set course for pending EU probes
Margrethe Vestager
Margrethe VestagerPhotographer: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Bloomberg
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Apple Inc. fights the world’s biggest tax case in a quiet courtroom this week, trying to rein in the European Union’s powerful antitrust chief ahead of a potential new crackdown on internet giants.

The iPhone maker can tell the EU General Court in Luxembourg that it’s the world’s biggest taxpayer. But that’s not enough for EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager who said in a 2016 ruling that Apple’s tax deals with Ireland allowed the company to pay far less than other businesses. The court must now weigh whether regulators were right to levy a record 13 billion-euro ($14.4 billion) tax bill.