--- title: Apple to Pay Large Tax Bill in Italy description: The company was accused of shifting money to Ireland, which has a much lower tax rate canonical: https://time.com/4164109/apple-italy-tax-settlement/ author: Victor Luckerson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-30T14:40:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:07:10.502Z article:section: Business og:title: Apple to Pay Large Tax Bill in Italy og:description: The company was accused of shifting money to Ireland, which has a much lower tax rate og:url: https://time.com/4164109/apple-italy-tax-settlement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte68e7ff6e9cd1f60/698877290a4a22c58c9c7b52/gettyimages-469804571.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: BRAZIL-IT-APPLE-STORE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Apple to Pay Large Tax Bill in Italy twitter:description: The company was accused of shifting money to Ireland, which has a much lower tax rate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte68e7ff6e9cd1f60/698877290a4a22c58c9c7b52/gettyimages-469804571.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Apple to Pay a Hefty Tax Bill in Italy by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Dec 30, 2015 2:40 PM CUT  View of the famous logo at new Apple store in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Februrary 16, 2014\. Some 1,700 impatient shoppers lined up for hours on the eve for the grand opening of Apple's store in Rio de Janeiro -- the first official outpost in South America. AFP PHOTO / YASUYOSHI CHIBA (Photo credit should read YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images) View of the famous logo at new Apple store in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Februrary 16, 2014\. Some 1,700 impatient shoppers lined up for hours on the eve for the grand opening of Apple's store in Rio de Janeiro -- the first official outpost in South America. AFP PHOTO / YASUYOSHI CHIBA (Photo credit should read YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images)YASUYOSHI CHIBA—AFP/Getty Images by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Dec 30, 2015 2:40 PM CUT Apple will pay Italy [a reported 318 million euros](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/31/technology/apple-settles-tax-dispute-with-italian-authorities.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined") ($348 million) to settle a dispute over the tech giant’s tax liability in the country. Italy’s tax authority began investigating Apple in 2013 for funneling more than $1 billion in income earned in Italy to an Irish subsidiary. The corporate tax rate in Ireland, at 12.5%, is one of the lowest in the world. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. European regulators are increasingly cracking down on U.S. firms that try to shift money among countries to lower their taxes. Amazon and McDonald’s are dealing with tax inquiries in Luxembourg, while Starbucks is expected to be forced to pay additional taxes in the Netherlands. \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/31/technology/apple-settles-tax-dispute-with-italian-authorities.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4164109/apple-italy-tax-settlement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4164109/apple-italy-tax-settlement/"},"headline":"Apple to Pay a Hefty Tax Bill in Italy","datePublished":"2015-12-30T14:40:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:07:10.502Z","description":"The company was accused of shifting money to Ireland, which has a much lower tax rate","url":"https://time.com/4164109/apple-italy-tax-settlement/","keywords":["Taxes","Tech","European Union","Apple","Italy","eu"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte68e7ff6e9cd1f60/698877290a4a22c58c9c7b52/gettyimages-469804571.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte68e7ff6e9cd1f60/698877290a4a22c58c9c7b52/gettyimages-469804571.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"BRAZIL-IT-APPLE-STORE","caption":"BRAZIL-IT-APPLE-STORE","creditText":"YASUYOSHI CHIBA—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/taxes/","name":"Taxes"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4164109/apple-italy-tax-settlement/","name":"Apple to Pay a Hefty Tax Bill in Italy"}}]}] ```