Apple under probe for evading $1.35 bln in taxes in Italy

Washington – Apple is under investigation for allegedly evading more than 1.35 billion dollars in taxes in Italy.

The world’s most valuable technology company was fined about 1 million euros in 2011 and 2012 by Italy’s competition regulator in a warranty case.

The Cupertino, California-based company may have used foreign companies to avoid paying taxes in Italy.

According to Mashable, Apple pays every dollar and euro it owes in taxes and is continuously audited by governments around the world, the company said in a statement.

The statement added that the Italian tax authorities already audited Apple Italy in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and confirmed that it was in full compliance with the OECD documentation and transparency requirements, the report said.

The company added that they were confident the current review will reach the same conclusion.

Italian weekly magazine Lâ Espresso reported earlier on its website that the case involves Apple’s tax payments in Italy during 2010 and 2011.

The shifting of profits by multinational companies is costing the U.S. and Europe at least $100 billion per year in lost tax revenue, Kimberly Clausing, an economics professor at Reed University in Portland, Oregon, said.