Last summer The European Commission shocked a lot of people when he said that Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), must pay 13 billion euros in retroactive taxes. The even bigger surprise was given by the accusations of tax evasion made against Apple, the European Commission asking Ireland to ask for the money from Apple, considering that the subsidiaries accused of all this have their headquarters in the country.
Now, the European Commission is still analyzing the situation to establish the final amounts owed by Apple, and the interest for these taxes would amount to 1.5 billion euros. In total, the European Commission could ask Apple to pay 14.5 billion euros for the revenues and profits generated in Europe between 2004 and 2011.
Apple and Ireland "teamed up" against the European Commission and appealed against this decision, but the process will be a very long one. The even more interesting part is that Ireland has to determine the final amount that would be owed, so the 13 billion euros could turn into a lower figure, or maybe even higher.
The European Commission initially imposed that the money be paid by January 3rd, but of course this did not happen, but the Irish authorities say that there are no problems. They say that the representatives of the European Commission are satisfied with the progress made by the authorities in this case, so it will be interesting to see what amount will be reached in the end.
"European Union competition watchdogs ordered Ireland to claw back a record 13 billion euros ($13.9 billion) plus interest in unpaid taxes from the iPhone maker last August, covering the years 2003 to 2014. In a worst-case scenario, the interest payment could ultimately approach 1.5 billion euros, bringing the total bill close to 14.5 billion euros."
Apple will fight until the last moment and exhaust all legal means to avoid paying such a large amount to the European Commission for its revenues and profits. Although those in Cupertino undoubtedly have the money to pay for everything that is being asked of them, the reality is that they will not do it because they will set a dangerous precedent for the industry.
