Starting next year, Apple will have to start paying Ireland back billions of back taxes.
The European Commission ruled last year that a tax deal that Ireland gave Apple was illegal, and that it owed the country $14.5 billion in back taxes. Ireland has been dragging their feet a little bit when it comes to collecting on that debt, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Both Apple and Ireland have argued against the ruling. Apple says the amount it’s being told to repay is inaccurate, and Ireland says that the European Union has overstepped its authority by requiring it to make Apple Pay that debt. According to the EU, the tax deal allowed Apple to pay almost nothing in tax on its European profits between 2003 and 2014.
While both have appealed the decision, the money Apple owes will be put in escrow while everything is being hashed out — but it will start being paid. We can expect to hear more about the timing and management of those payments during the company’s earnings call in January.
