Apple, Italy reconcile $348M tax dispute
Report says company recorded revenue in lower-taxed Ireland
U.S. tech giant Apple reportedly has reached a 318 million euro ($347.6 million) agreement with Italian authorities over allegations of unpaid taxes.
The payment stems from a dispute in which the company allegedly failed to pay nearly 900 million euros in taxes from 2008 to 2013, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing an unidentified person from the Milan prosecutor’s office familiar with the issue.
Investigators examined evidence that the maker of iPhones, iPads and other popular tech products made sales in Italy but recorded that revenue in the company’s division based in Ireland, where tax rates are lower, Italy’s La Repubblica reported.
Italy’s tax office confirmed the portion of the La Repubblica report that said a deal had been reached with Apple but declined to discuss the financial size of the settlement, Reuters reported.
Apple did not immediately respond to email messages seeking comment. Italian tax authorities could not be reached.
The reports came in the wake of other questions and allegations of suspected tax underpayments by Apple and other U.S. multinational firms.
Italian prosecutors opened the tax investigation of Apple in 2013,
The New York Times reported. Apple told the newspaper at the time that the firm “pays every dollar and euro it owes in taxes” and is “continuously audited by governments around the world.”
A May 2013 report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said Apple avoided tens of billions of dollars in U.S. taxes on its income and profits by using a web of offshore entities to cut some of its tax rates to as low as 0.05%.
“We pay all the taxes we owe, every single dollar,” Apple CEO Tim Cook testified in response. He also insisted the company doesn’t rely on tax “gimmicks” and doesn’t “stash money on some Caribbean island.” Similarly, Cook in a recent 60
Minutes interview called complaints from U.S. lawmakers who contend Apple is trying to avoid paying taxes on overseas profits “political crap.” He urged changes in the U.S. tax code to correct problems that make it more difficult for U.S. multinationals to compete with rivals based in countries with lower tax rates.
Separately, the European Commission’s competition office has pressed member nations to ensure they don’t give improper tax advantages to firms with divisions in multiple countries.