Brussels (dpa) - The US technology giant Apple must pay Ireland up to 13 billion euros (14.5 billion dollars) in illegally granted tax benefits, the European Commission ruled Tuesday, in a landmark decision that Ireland plans to appeal."Our tax system is founded on the strict application of the law," said Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan, adding that he disagrees "profoundly" with the ruling by the European Union‘s executive.The Apple case is one of several high-profile probes into tax deals that EU states granted multinationals, including the Starbucks coffee chain, the Fiat carmaker, the online retailer Amazon and the McDonald‘s restaurant franchise.Taxation is a national competence in the 28-country EU, but the commission believes it can intervene because these tax arrangements constitute state aid, an area it regulates.Last week, the US Treasury lashed out at the commission‘s approach, arguing that it is "inconsistent" with international norms and undermines the global fight against tax avoidance.
