With a long-running investigation into the legality of Apple’s tax arrangements in Europe not expected to end any time soon, the company will come under additional pressure tomorrow when it is called before the European Parliament’s tax committee.
Reuters reports that the company will be one of four companies asked to explain their European tax arrangements.
The committee has no power to demand changes, but it will further add to the PR pressure on Apple at a time when the public mood in Europe is hostile to legal but aggressive tax-avoidance strategies.
Apple, Google, McDonald’s and IKEA will be asked about their European tax deals on Wednesday as EU lawmakers ratchet up the pressure on multinationals to pay more tax on their profits locally.
I recently set out the reasons I think the company will eventually have to pay an estimated $8B in back taxes.