The United States is apparently furious at the European Union for handing Apple the tax demand but EU officials say it was Washington which put them on to the scheme in the first place.
The world's largest company was presented with the huge bill after the commission ruled a sweetheart tax deal between Apple and the Irish tax authorities amounted to illegal state aid.
The commission says the deal allowed Apple to pay a maximum tax rate of just 1%. In 2014, the technology firm paid tax at just 0.005%. The usual rate of corporate tax in Ireland is 12.5%.
The commission says member states cannot give tax benefits to selected companies.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook claims the ruling will deal a blow to big companies investing in Europe. Beyond the obvious targeting of Apple, the most profound and harmful effect of the ruling will be on investment and job creation in Europe.
Every company in Ireland and across Europe is suddenly at risk of being subjected to taxes under laws that never existed, he says.
Ireland is worried its low-tax status is at risk from the ruling and the Government there is likely to appeal the ruling. A key attraction is Ireland allows companies to adopt tax structures which let them pay much less than the 12.5% headline rate. The companies say they follow the rules.
The paying of corporate tax by multinational companies, particularly technology companies, is not a new issue and has shown up in New Zealand and Australia. Facebook and Google have been accused of paying below minimum tax in New Zealand. Both companies, along with Amazon, are being investigated by the commission.
Last year, the commission told the Netherlands to recover as much as €30 million from Starbucks and Luxembourg was ordered to claw back a similar amount from Fiat.
The Panama Papers brought New Zealand into the spotlight when they revealed how close to a tax haven this country had become.
The international focus on Apple should reignite more scrutiny of how the overseas corporates repatriate their money and how much they leave behind as tax.
Apple will have no problem paying the tax as it has more than $250 billion in cash assets. It is the principle Mr Cook and the Irish Government will be fighting.
Tax experts say the commission faces a tough battle to convince courts to back up its stand. While the EU has found certain tax regulations are anti-competitive, it has never before ruled whether countries have applied tax regulations fairly in the way it has with Apple, Starbucks and others.
As a result, some lawyers and accountants say they doubt Apple will end up paying back any tax. Others say it is part of a damaging race to the bottom in which governments are competing on who can offer multinationals the lowest tax bill.
The issue is complicated by the the number of jobs Apple has created in Ireland. Reports vary, but it is safe to say about 6000 people are directly employed by Apple in areas such as logistics and distribution in the Irish city of Cork - a quarter of Apple's Europe-based staff.
The White House argues if Apple pays the back taxes, it could offset the amount against tax due in the US, which will be unfair for American taxpayers.
The current focus is on the size of the tax bill. However, there are larger issues at stake including who really runs the world - governments or giant corporations. At present, it is difficult to tell.
It is time to get the tax affairs of multinational companies out in the open to see how much they are actually contributing to the rest of society.
