Apple is under investigation by Italian authorities for alleged tax fraud, according to local reports and Reuters.
The Government believes Apple may have hidden more than $1.3 billion from the Italian tax authority and investigators in that country have been aggressive with their tax probes in recent years.
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The maker of the iPhone is the latest prominent corporation to become the target of a tax probe in Italy amid a global crackdown on tax cheating by multinationals.
In Italy, where tax authorities have become more aggressive in their dealings with global companies, fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were handed in June a 20-month suspended prison sentence and a heavy fine for hiding hundreds of millions of euros in unpaid taxes. Both deny any wrongdoing.
Apple has been fined more than $1 million by Italian regulators in a separate case, after the company was found not providing consumers with proper disclosures related to the warranties that Italian consumers automatically get under local law.
Apple currently operates fourteen Apple Retail Store locations in Italy, including the Via Rizzoli location in Bologna, pictured above.
Top Rated Comments
Or, y'know, the investigation actually turns up solid evidence of tax avoidance.
Glad to know you're ok with multinational corporations like Amazon and Apple avoiding (even in perfectly legal ways) to pay billions in taxes both in the US and Europe every year :) While regular US and EU citizens pay taxes to the last cent.
Yeah a shakedown...because we're talking about companies who NEVER practiced any kind of tax avoidance and do their best to contribute with taxes to the countries where their businesses take place....right.
Nothing wrong in LOOKING INTO the matter. Apple doesn't lack lawyers to defend itself.
It does sound a bit like a shakedown. Italy is known for corruption.