Apple will pay the French government $571 million in back taxes. The Cupertino device maker reached a deal with French authorities to pay the amount to settle a tax bill going back several years.
Apple’s French division confirmed the tax payment agreement, but did not disclose how much it had agreed to pay.
“As a multinational company, Apple is regularly audited by fiscal authorities around the world,” Apple France said in a statement. “The French tax administration recently concluded a multi-year audit on the company’s French accounts, and those details will be published in our public accounts.”
Although the iPhone manufacturer did not officially announce the amount they would pay, French media suggests the sum is around 500 million euros ($571 million).
France’s government has been actively working to prevent tech companies from exploiting what it says are loopholes in the country’s tax laws. Officials says the loopholes have allowed foreign firms like Apple to “minimize taxes and grab market share” at the expense of Europe-based companies.
The country’s officials, including French President Emmanuel Macron, are also pushing the idea of a European Union-wide tax on tech firms.
Apple’s payment should be welcomed by “Attac” (Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and Citizen’s Action), which have protested against Apple’s non-payment of taxes, going so far as to “occupy” Apple’s Parisian retail stores.
Apple sued Attac in February 2018 over its protests in stores. However, the Paris High Court denied Apple’s request for an injunction to prevent the group from protesting in stores.
