Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has agreed to start paying the Irish government €13bn in back taxes.
The European Commission ruled in August 2016 that Apple must reimburse Ireland for unpaid taxes over a number of years. The EU claimed Apple had been given unfair incentives with sweetheart tax deals from Ireland.
“We have now reached agreement with Apple in relation to the principles and operation of the escrow fund,” finance minister Paschal Donohoe said in Brussels in quotes confirmed by Ireland’s finance ministry.
“We expect the money will begin to be transmitted into the account from Apple across the first quarter of next year,” he added before a meeting with the EU’s Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
Apple and Ireland have both appealed the order. The tax payments will be made into an escrow account until the result of the appeal to the European Commission.
Apple will begin to make payments into the account in the first quarter of next year.