
Apple Unit Ordered To Pay 12bn Yen Bill For Unpaid Taxes
An Apple Inc iTunes unit in Japan was ordered to pay some 12 billion yen ($118 million) in tax by local authorities after underreporting income. The company has reportedly paid off the amount.
The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau found that the company did not pay the withholding tax on earnings it used to cover software licensing fees, Nikkei repors, citing unnamed sources.
The unit was obliged to pay a portion of its profits from the iTunes music and video distribution service to another Apple subsidiary in Ireland, which holds the rights to the content. But the Japanese unit did not make the payments directly. The fees were instead paid via other related companies, tacked onto costs for purchasing iPhones and other products from the Irish unit.
Apple did not provide any comment.
Apple and other multinational companies have come under much tax scrutiny from governments around the world. The European Union has ordered Apple to pay Ireland 13 billion euros ($14.6 billion) in back taxes after ruling it had received illegal state aid. Apple and Dublin plan to appeal the ruling, arguing the tax treatment was in line with EU law.