A Swiss tax probe has ignited a legal conflict concerning access to Apple Account data, as authorities seek information tied to the investigation, prompting a contentious battle over privacy and compliance. The U.S. government is asking a federal court to enforce an IRS summons to Apple for user data, that will be used in the investigation.
Andrew Orr for AppleInsider:
Federal prosecutors want a California judge to reject a petition aiming to block the Internal Revenue Service from demanding Apple turn over account records linked to Cristian Caruso. He holds Swiss and Italian citizenship and is under investigation for possible Swiss tax liabilities.
Caruso filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to stop the summons. The IRS is seeking records from Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino. They include subscriber names and addresses, session times, connection records, payment methods, and IP addresses spanning 2016 to 2023.
Officials maintain the request follows the U.S.-Switzerland tax treaty, which allows both governments to share tax information for enforcing their own laws. The IRS says it issued the summons in response to a request from Swiss tax authorities…
Federal prosecutors argue the summons meets both U.S. legal requirements and the treaty’s terms. They say the IRS is simply helping Swiss authorities confirm Caruso’s potential liabilities and that the treaty permits sharing data held by U.S. companies.
Apple has no formal role in the dispute other than complying if the court approves the summons.
MacDailyNews Take: A ruling favoring the government would compel Apple to surrender the records, which the IRS would subsequently share with Swiss tax authorities.
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