EU regulator says Apple should be on hook for €14.3 billion tax bill

(credit: Apple)

Apple has been dealt a blow in its €14.3 billion tax dispute with Brussels after an adviser to the EU’s top court said an earlier ruling over its business in Ireland should be shelved.

Giovanni Pitruzzella, advocate-general of the European Court of Justice, the EU’s highest court, said on Thursday that a landmark decision quashing the EU’s order for Apple to pay €14.3 billion in back taxes to Ireland “should be set aside.”

Such opinions by advocates-general are non-binding but often influential in final judgments by the EU’s top court.