Partner James Webber (London-Antitrust) was recently interviewed by BBC News on the Apple tax ruling. Webber discusses the legal basis for the Apple ruling, looking at the European Commission's application of the State aid rules and the overarching certainty question companies now face.

Exploring the significant legal issues in the Commission’s approach to the Apple ruling, Webber notes that it’s not clear the Commission can show that Ireland put Apple in a better position than any other company in a similar factual and legal situation. The Commission appears to have found that Apple’s tax arrangements do not reflect economic reality and therefore the company should have paid more.

Webber also said that applying old rules in a way never contemplated before undermines certainty, making it hard for companies to know where they stand.

In addition, Webber agrees that the ongoing international work on increasing the tax take from multinationals changing the rules, or even changing the way in which they are applied retroactively, will undermine the cooperation that those international initiatives depend on.

Readers within the UK can watch this interview on BBC iPlayer - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07rgvqz/world-business-report-02092016