Apple must pay $14 billion tax bill to Ireland, EU court rules

• Earlier this year, Apple became the first company to be accused of violating the EU's new major tech competition law.

Catch up quick: The tax case stretches back to 2016, when the European Commission (EC) ordered Apple repay Ireland roughly €13 billion of unpaid taxes.

• The commission argued that the tech giant had received "illegal" tax benefits from Ireland over the course of two decades.
• Apple had housed its European headquarters in Ireland and paid a corporate tax rate of less than 1% in some years, which the EC argued gave Apple an unfair advantage over other companies.
• Apple and Ireland appealed the decision in 2019.

State of play: The European Court of Justice on Tuesday overturned the lower court decision and upheld the EC's 2016 order.

• "Today is a big win for European citizens and for tax justice. The Court of Justice confirms ... that Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland now has to recover," Margrethe Vestager, the EU competition chief, said in a statement Tuesday.
• The Irish government said in a statement Tuesday that the country "does not give preferential tax treatment to any companies" but that the case revolved around "an issue that is now of historical relevance only."

What they're saying: "This case has never been about how much tax we pay, but which government we are required to pay it to. We always pay all the taxes we owe wherever we operate and there has never been a special deal," Apple said in a statement Tuesday.

• The company added that it was "disappointed" by the ECJ's ruling.

Go deeper: Apple scores win in tax battle with EU

Editor's note: This story was updated with a statement from Apple.