Apple Japan Ordered to Pay $118 Million in Owed Taxes
The plot thickens on the Apple-Ireland Tax debacle. Japanese tax authorities have ordered a Japanese Apple iTunes unit pay 12 billion yen (US$118 million) after underreporting income. The tax bureau said the iTunes Tokyo unit should have paid taxes on some ¥60 billion in software profits from 2012 to 2014, which it transferred to an Apple subsidiary in Ireland that holds the software copyright.
The unit has since paid the amount, however this follows a tumultuous few weeks for Apple, facing a potential €13 billion tax bill in Ireland following a ruling by EU’s European Commision who deemed the Irish tax break illegal but EU law. Despite both Apple and the Irish Government’s plan to appeal the decision, Apple has been warned that the appeal isn’t likely to make a difference on the owed amounts.