Apple says it has paid two-thirds of $15 billion Irish tax bill

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - IPhone maker Apple has to date paid two-thirds of the 13 billion euros ($15.1 billion) which EU antitrust regulators said it owes Ireland in back taxes, the company said in a regulatory filing late on Wednesday.

The European Commission in August 2016 ordered Ireland to recover the money from Apple because of an illegal tax deal which gave the company an unfair advantage in breach of the bloc's state aid rules.

The total amount to be repaid was calculated at 13 billion euros plus 1 billion euros in interest.

"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 its quarterly report.

The money will remain in the escrow account pending appeals by Apple and Ireland against the Commission's ruling, which are expected to take several years.

The EU competition enforcer has said it will drop its lawsuit launched against Ireland in October last year as soon as Apple pays up.

($1 = 0.8612 euros)

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Kirsten Donovan)