Apple Agrees to Pay Italy €318m Fine

Apple on Wednesday agreed to pay Italy €318m fine to settle a long-running investigation into the US technology company’s tax arrangements in the country.

According to Italy’s tax office, Apple’s subsidiary in Italy failed to properly declare its earnings between 2008 and 2013, an evasion of approximately €880m.

An inquiry into the situation revealed that the Italian authorities and the world most valuable company have been locked in negotiation for months. Based on Financial Times report, Italy’s tax office has finally accepted smaller amount to close the long-running case.

The investigation started amid anger in Europe over the tax methods of leading multinational companies in the region.

Other companies that have come under regulatory scrutiny over corporate tax avoidance policies includes Google, Amazon and Starbucks.

In September, Facebook Inc. was accused of paying lesser tax than One Direction in London, England.

Concerns over such practice have triggered calls for an international crackdown to block all the loopholes exploit by these companies and restrict the use of tax havens.