Apple Stock News
After accusations of underpaying taxes by Italy’s fiscal agency, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple has reached a settlement. According to Italian prosecutors, Apple claimed that sales made in Italy between 2008 and 2013, was income generated from Ireland, where the corporate tax rate is much lower.
Italy has a high corporate tax rate of 30%, and therefore has one of the highest levels of tax evasion in the European union. Italian authorities are working hard to crack down on these practices.
The Italian authorities have alleged that Apple avoided €900 million, or $981 million in taxes. On Wednesday, December 30th Apple settled to pay $346.6 million, a mere fraction of the alleged amount. European Union antitrust regulators, who believe that Apple has been given unfair advantages through certain sweetheart deals, are heavily scrutinizing Apple’s European tax practices.
This settlement comes 10 days after Tim Cook went on 60 minutes to call Apple’s tax avoidance claims “total political crap”.
