This article is more than 1 year old

Apple agrees to pay £136m in back idiot taxes to UK taxman

Details of HMRC deal remain behind closed doors

Apple has agreed to cough up £136m in back taxes to HMRC following an "extensive audit" by the tax man.

In its Company's House filing for the year ended April 2017, Apple Europe said: "Following an extensive audit by HMRC the company has agreed to pay the adjustment covering prior years up to September 26 2015. This payment of additional tax and interest reflect the Company’s increased activity and is recognised in current financial period which ended 1 April 2017."

It added the income tax payments “will increase going forward” as the adjustment is incorporated into future tax bills.

In December last year Apple agreed to start paying the Irish government up to €13bn (£11.4bn) in 2018. That followed a ruling by the European Commission in August that tax arrangements between Ireland and Apple were in breach of the EU's state aid laws.

Apple Europe employs 791 people and made a pre-tax profit of £297m in the 18 months to April 2017. The total tax charge was £192m.

Apple looks forward to wiping $47bn off its overseas profit tax bill – thanks to US shakeup

READ MORE

HMRC would not reveal the details of the arrangement. The government has previously been criticised for coming to tax settlements with big corporations behind closed doors - most notably its £130m settlement with Google in 2015 for ten years of back taxes which took six years to negotiate.

An HMRC spokesman said of the Apple arrangement: “We do not comment on the tax affairs of individual companies. Multinational companies must pay all taxes due and we don’t settle for less. “Last year alone, HMRC secured and protected over £8bn in additional tax revenue from the largest and most complex businesses.”

Apple said: “We know the important role that tax payments play in society. Apple pays all that we owe according to tax laws and local customs in the countries where we operate.

“As a multinational business and the largest taxpayer in the world, Apple is regularly audited by tax authorities around the world. HMRC recently concluded a multiyear audit of our UK accounts and the settlement we reached with HMRC is reflected in our recently filed accounts.” ®

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like