European Commission’s executive has ruled that the technology giant’s tax arrangements with Ireland amounted to preferential treatment (with tax rates at 1%).

The commission has suggested a figure or a range that Apple owes Dublin—which is $13 billion.

But the government, fearing other investors would be put off, doesn’t want to collect the money; it has appealed, as will Apple, ensuring the case drags on for years.

The ruling will stoke transatlantic tensions: America recently lambasted the commission for trying to turn itself into a “supranational tax authority” and declared the theories underpinning the anticipated ruling flawed.

Washington accuses Eurocrats of undermining OECD-led efforts to form international consensus on how to tackle corporate tax shenanigans.

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