According to Bloomberg, the Irish government has placed 15 billion euro levied on Apple in escrow account while a lengthy appeal process continues.

Some think that an appeal to the EC could take as long as five years, and if Ireland wins the case it will hand back the money to Apple.

Ireland is supposed to collect the tax money from Apple by earlier this year, but that lengthy appeal process could be short circuited by agreement behind the scenes.

The European Commission is becoming increasingly bullish about American corporations avoiding or underpaying tax.