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Apple has agreed to pay 318 million euros ($348M) to settle a tax evasion dispute with Italian authorities, according to reports.
International Business Times(Opens in a new window), citing local news service La Repubblica, on Wednesday reported that the agreement follows a two-year investigation examining whether Apple’s Italian subsidiary failed to declare some $1.3 billion of revenue to Italy’s tax authorizes.
Prosecutors in the country accused Apple of moving the money from Italy to its subsidiary in Ireland, where it would get a lower tax rate. After months of negotiations, Apple has agreed to pay the full amount Italian authorities were seeking—a figure that could reach as high as $350 million, according to The New York Times(Opens in a new window).
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the company has in the past denied allegations of failing to pay its fair share in taxes.
During a recent 60 Minutes interview with Charlie Rose, for instance, Apple CEO Tim Cook argued that the Cupertino tech giant pays “more taxes in this country than anyone.” As for its money abroad, Rose suggested that Apple is running “a sophisticated scheme” to dodge taxes on $74 billion in overseas revenue.
“That is total political crap,” Cook said. “There is no truth behind it. Apple pays every tax dollar we owe.”
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Meanwhile, this isn’t the end of Apple’s tax troubles in Europe. According to the Times, European authorities are separately investigating whether Apple’s tax deal in Ireland is “overly generous.” That judgement is expected in early 2016.
As the report notes, Ireland’s corporate tax rate is one of the lowest in the Western world at 12.5 percent, especially compared to the U.S., which charges 35 percent before deductions.
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Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/news/apple-to-pay-italy-348-million-to-settle-tax-evasion-depute