“Apple Inc. may be facing a hefty tax bill in Europe,” Adam Satariano reports for Bloomberg.
“The world’s largest company could owe more than $8 billion in back taxes as a result of a European Commission investigation into its tax policies, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Intelligence,” Satariano reports. “Apple, which has said it will appeal an adverse ruling, is being scrutinized by regulators who have accused the iPhone maker of using subsidiaries in Ireland to avoid paying taxes on revenue generated outside the U.S.”
“While Apple generates about 55 percent of its revenue outside the U.S., its foreign tax rate is about 1.8 percent, according to the analysis,” Satariano reports. “If the Commission decides to enforce a tougher accounting standard, Apple may owe taxes at a 12.5 percent rate, on $64.1 billion in profit generated from 2004 to 2012.”
“Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has denied that the company uses tricks to avoid paying taxes,” Satariano reports. “In a recent interview on CBS Corp.’s ’60 Minutes,’ he called the criticism the company has faced from U.S. lawmakers ‘political crap.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote last month when Apple decided to pay $348 million to settle a case claiming “tax fraud” in Italy:
This sets a precedent which could prompt a parade of countries to “investigate” Apple hoping for a large payment. Who’ll be be next piggy at the trough?
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Apple to pay $348 million to settle Italy tax fraud case – December 30, 2015