French officials claim Apple CEO Tim Cook didn’t push back against French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for the company to pay more taxes, Bloomberg reports.
Apple is embroiled in a legal fight with the EU over a ruling that the company owes more than $14.5 billion in taxes collected in Europe and not paid to Ireland, and thus far Cook and other company representatives have stood firm in their public opposition to the ruling, claiming Apple has followed all applicable tax laws.
Macron and other European leaders are looking to plug those legal loopholes that allow major companies to funnel their European profits to countries like Ireland rather than paying taxes in the countries where sales are taking place, and the French president said Cook “accepted that fiscal laws worldwide are shifting toward making companies pay tax where money is actually earned.” Apple declined to comment on the meeting.
