Re: It looks Apple in Italy collects VAT it shouldn't... and nobody knows where the money goes.
any company selling anything in the EU and is VAT registered has to send the money to the relevant tax authorities.
Business done with entities outside that country are reported separately.
If Apple (or any company for that matter) is not paying VAT then they should be hauled up in court and made to pay.
I has to pay it when I ran my own company so why should apple get away with it.
That said, if I buy something from Adobe that is an electronic download then I pay Irish VAT. If it comes in a Box, I pay UK VAT because the order is fulfilled from Scotland.
There might be some confusion here. I would imagine that all iTunes sales attract Irish VAT and not that of the country where the end user resides.
Apple (Eire) is duty bound to pay the Irish Gov all the VAT it has received where it has levied Irish VAT rates.