Apple has missed the deadline to pay the 13 billion euros ($14.52 billion) tax bill it owes to the Irish government, according to a new report.
The bill was handed out last August by European Union competition officials, who ruled that Apple was taking advantage of illegal state aid allowing the company to route profits through Ireland.
According to investigators, Apple paid a tax rate of as little as 0.005 percent on its European profits in 2014. To put that number in perspective, it’s around $50 tax for every $1 million brought in.
“The Commission’s investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years,” European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said when the bill was first handed out, noting that, “member states cannot give tax benefits to selected companies — this is illegal under EU state aid rules.”
Apple was due to pay the money it “owes” into an escrow account, held by a third party, by January 3 at the latest, although it has failed to do this.
Apple’s refusal to pay the bill is no great surprise. Both Ireland and Apple have disputed the amount, and Tim Cook has labelled reports that Apple doesn’t pay its taxes “total political crap.” Apple’s Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri has also said that “if there is a fair outcome of the [European Commission] investigation, [Apple should pay] zero” extra tax.
Where things go from here remains to be seen, but expect a long litigation process before things are sewn-up for good.
Via: Business Insider
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
4 responses to “Apple blows off deadline to pay massive Irish tax bill”
Good old Tom. I didn’t know he was still with the company. Funny thing, Tim Cook said the same thing. So there you go.
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Tom generally hangs out down by the cooler on the 4th floor. He was quite upset with Tim when he stole the classic line. Glad the Cult of Mac got it from the horses mouth this time.
Thanks. Corrected. Tom has been passed over to the authorities.