Court of Justice 9 November 2023, C-465/20 (Opinion of Advocate General Pitruzzella delivered on 9 November 2023.)

Also known as

The Advocate General recommends setting aside the General Court's judgment, arguing that the court misinterpreted the European Commission's primary line of reasoning by erroneously characterizing it as an 'exclusion' approach to profit allocation under Irish tax law. The Opinion contends that the General Court erred in law by comparing the functions of the Irish branches to those of Apple Inc. rather than the companies' own head offices, thereby misapplying the arm's length principle and the separate entity approach. Consequently, the Advocate General proposes referring the case back to the General Court for a new analysis of whether the contested tax rulings granted a selective advantage to Apple in violation of Article 107(1) TFEU.AI