Sam Oliver
A French professional association that collects revenue for artists' copyrighted works has charged Apple $6.5 million in taxes related to iPad sales in 2011.
The fee of 5 million euros passed on to Apple was revealed by the association known as SACEM, and highlighted by Rude Baguette. The charge comes from a tax that applies in a number of countries across Europe, including France and Germany, that applies to all digital devices that can be used with copyrighted material.
After the fees are collected by SACEM, those taxes are doled out to authors, creators, producers, actors and others.
According to the organization, Apple charged the SACEM fee to consumers who bought iPads in 2011, but the 5 million in euros were never paid to the association.
The French government has also recently considered instituting a so-called "culture tax" on devices like Apple's iPhone and iPad lineup. By levying a 1 percent tax on technology hardware, France would then receive roughly 86 million euros per year that would go to cultural industries focused on French music, images and videos.
As of the end of its last fiscal quarter, Apple had $145 billion in cash and investments, $100 billion of which is housed overseas. As the company's cash hoard has grown, so too has criticism of the taxes it pays.
The $6.5 million sum being charged in France is minuscule compared to the billions in taxes that some believe should be paid in the U.S. Though Apple has broken no laws in sheltering funds overseas, the company came under fire from U.S. lawmakers last month during a Senate subcommittee hearing attended by CEO Tim Cook.
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34 Comments
When Canada had the iPod levy (thankfully, they don't anymore), lots of people used that levy to justify piracy. Be careful, France. Do you want your citizens to think "hey, I already pay money to the artists, why should I pay them twice?"
It is the pirating tax for those not familiar with this. Since the device has the ability to store content which could have been pirated or illegally copied or download, the manufacturers are required to pay a tax equal to the storage capabilities of the device. In the EU they feel that everyone should pay the cost of few who do illegal things. It most cases the content owner are getting paid twice if you paid for directly.
Gustav, excellent point.
It is the pirating tax for those not familiar with this. Since the device has the ability to store content which could have been pirated or illegally copied or down load, the manufacturers are required to pay a tax equal to the storage capabilities of the device.
Is there a bank robbery tax on all vehicles to cover illegal actions performed with vehicles? Is there an obesity tax on all food to cover the medical costs of eating too much?
If not, they're worthless hypocrites and Apple needs to pay France exactly 6.5 million tons of cow droppings. And then pay the methane tax on that. In the equivalent amount of FURTHER cow droppings.
It is the pirating tax for those not familiar with this. Since the device has the ability to store content which could have been pirated or illegally copied or download, the manufacturers are required to pay a tax equal to the storage capabilities of the device.
In the EU they feel that everyone should pay the cost of few who do illegal things. It most cases the content owner are getting paid twice if you paid for directly.
I also remember the proposal in the U.S. to add a fee to every blank VHS tape or blank CD to make up for piracy. I think they wanted to tax the recorder hardware too.