Ireland now needs to decide what it will do with 13 billion euros in back taxes from Apple

A landmark ruling from the European Union's top court means Ireland will receive 13 billion euros ($14.4 billion) in unpaid taxes from Apple — a windfall that Dublin had spent several years fighting to avoid.

It leaves the small EU member state in a politically awkward, albeit enviable, position. Irish lawmakers will be expected to set out how best to spend the incoming cash injection ahead of a general election, which must be held no later than March next year.

In a decision the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said was final, the EU's top court on Tuesday ruled that Apple must pay Ireland billions of euros in back taxes.

The decision was welcomed by tax justice advocates as well as the bloc's outgoing competition chief Margrethe Vestager, who described the pronouncement as a "huge win" for European citizens.

Apple said in a statement that it was disappointed with the ruling, while the Irish government described the case as "an issue that is now of historical relevance only."

The Irish government said in a statement that its position had always been that it "does not give preferential tax treatment to any companies or taxpayers." A spokesperson added that it would now begin the process of transferring the assets held in an escrow fund to Ireland.

"The Irish government in particular are now in a position where they have been telling the Irish people and the international community that they don't want this 13 billion [euros] — it is not ours," Aidan Regan, associate professor of political economy at University College Dublin in Ireland, told CNBC via telephone.

"They are confronted with a lot of domestic pressures politically, there's an election probably in a couple of months' time and now they potentially have a windfall of 13