American multinational technology company Apple has been fined €318 million (USD 347 million) by Italian tax authorities for moving funds to Ireland in order to avoid paying tax.
The Italian Newspaper La Repubblica has reported that Apple has agreed to pay this sum after months of negotiation.
Italian judges hearing the case had previously ruled that Apple had dodged payment of over €880 million in corporate income tax between 2008 and 2013.
According to The NextWeb, the company was accused of transferring that €880 million (USD 962 million) of profit to its Irish subsidiary to benefit from the country’s lower tax rate.
The agreement to pay the fine sets a precedent for the company, which uses the same tactics across the world to pay lower taxes than it might be liable for in the countries it retails its products.
The Italian tax probe was wrapped up in March, but no ruling was made available before today.
Apple said that the company is “one of the largest tax payers in the world and paid every euro of tax it owed wherever it did business.”
