Apple says it has paid $10.4B of $15.1B in back taxes to Ireland
Apple has so far made two payments of 4.5 billion euros (about $5.2 billion) into an escrow account for the 13 billion euros ($15.1 billion) in back taxes the European Commission has ordered it to pay Ireland, according to new regulatory filings.

"As of June 30, 2018, 4.5 billion euros of the recovery amount was funded into escrow. Subsequent to June 30, 2018, the company has funded an additional 4.5 billion euros of the recovery amount into escrow," Apple said in quarterly documents seen by Reuters.
Apple and the Irish government set up an escrow account rather that direct payments in anticipation of an appeal against the European Commission, which could begin this fall. The fight could stretch out for several years however with no guarantee of success, since the Commission has previously ruled against other multinational corporations accused of violating European tax rules.
In August 2016, the Commission ruled that Ireland had extended preferential tax deals to Apple for years, something considered illegal state aid under European law -- aid offered to one company must be extended to others as well. The E.U. argued that the Irish government had even reverse-engineered rules to appease Apple.
The iPhone maker has funneled large sums of international revenue through Ireland, using loopholes to pay minimal taxes. According to the Commission, Apple paid 1 percent on profits in 2003, and as little as 0.005 percent in 2014.
The Irish government has begun closing some loopholes, and the Commission has proposed new tax rules that would spread some of Apple's obligations around the E.U.

"As of June 30, 2018, 4.5 billion euros of the recovery amount was funded into escrow. Subsequent to June 30, 2018, the company has funded an additional 4.5 billion euros of the recovery amount into escrow," Apple said in quarterly documents seen by Reuters.
Apple and the Irish government set up an escrow account rather that direct payments in anticipation of an appeal against the European Commission, which could begin this fall. The fight could stretch out for several years however with no guarantee of success, since the Commission has previously ruled against other multinational corporations accused of violating European tax rules.
In August 2016, the Commission ruled that Ireland had extended preferential tax deals to Apple for years, something considered illegal state aid under European law -- aid offered to one company must be extended to others as well. The E.U. argued that the Irish government had even reverse-engineered rules to appease Apple.
The iPhone maker has funneled large sums of international revenue through Ireland, using loopholes to pay minimal taxes. According to the Commission, Apple paid 1 percent on profits in 2003, and as little as 0.005 percent in 2014.
The Irish government has begun closing some loopholes, and the Commission has proposed new tax rules that would spread some of Apple's obligations around the E.U.
Comments
I agree that "Apple deposits two-thirds of possible Ireland back taxes into escrow" or something like that would have been more accurate, but the point is that the money is available if Apple loses the appeal, which seems likely (as Apple does not, to my knowledge, have any new evidence that they didn't have before), so the headline is likely accurate if speculative at the moment.
The part of this that rankles me is that the EU's decision amounts to retroactive taxation with the penalty on Apple, rather than the politicians who set up this illegal state aid deal. It is Ireland -- and Ireland alone -- that should be paying the penalty.
And from my read on this situation, those same deals were available to other corporations; they weren’t uniquely available to Apple. And if that’s the case, they would have been legal. Now you might say, correctly, that those deals were available only to corporations of a certain size, not to small businesses. But is that not common? I can cite a current example. Look at Cupertino, considering a head tax on businesses located in the city. But not all businesses; just those that meet a minimum size threshold. Meaning just Apple and possibly one or two other very large businesses having offices there. And Cupertino is being somewhat disingenuous if it invented this tax proposal after Apple set its plans and bought the land, but I suppose they have the right to do so. At least it’s not retroactive taxation.
And how how much are all the other companies taking advantage of Ireland tax breaks paying back?
In answer to slimpotato, the deterrant is reputational risk. Any company that sees a tax discount in Ireland is going to be very wary of taking it now. In addition, there's little point in fining Ireland, the money that's been reclaimed is public money that services have been deprived of for years, so chipping away at that would be counterproductive. I do agree that the brunt of the pain has fallen on Apple, and that maybe a stronger censure of Ireland might have be in order, but then again, I imagine the EU has put the whole country under a lot more scrutiny, so the tax authorities are being appropriately pinched. Sometimes the punishment is unseen to the public.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/06/21/apple-came-to-ireland-to-build-a-community-not-skirt-taxes-tim-cook-says
I find that dubious, but it's Apple's own claim from the mouth of their CEO, and gives them little leeway to cry foul.