The Nikkei newspaper said that Apple Inc.’s (AAPL.O) Japan unit is being charged 13 billion yen ($98 million) in extra taxes for selling a lot of iPhones and other Apple products to foreign tourists who were mistakenly exempt from paying the consumption tax.
The Nikkei reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources, that foreign shoppers were found buying a lot of iPhones at some Apple stores. In at least one case, a single person bought hundreds of phones at once.
Tourists who are staying in Japan for less than six months can buy things without paying the 10% consumption tax, but they can’t buy things to resell.
Nikkei says that Apple Japan is thought to have filed an updated tax return.
When Reuters asked for a comment, the company only sent an email saying that tax-free purchases aren’t possible at its stores right now. The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau didn’t have anything to say.
Tim Cook, the CEO of the company that makes the iPhone, went to Japan earlier this month and said that the company had put more than $100 billion into its supply network in Japan over the last five years.
