Belgian tax break for large companies is legal - EU court

A Belgian tax break which benefited about 35 large companies is legal, an EU court said on Thursday, giving a boost to Apple and other companies challenging similar findings by the European Commission.

"The General Court annuls the Commission's decision concerning tax exemptions granted by Belgium by means of rulings" the tribunal said.

The case involved Dutch industrial company Magnetrol and Belgium which took their cases to the Luxembourg-based General Court after the European Commission in 2016 ordered Belgium to recover some 700 million euros from the companies which benefited from the scheme. (Reporting by Francois Aulner in Luxembourg and Foo Yun Chee in Brussels; editing by Francesco Guarascio)