Apple paid Ireland $17 billion in corporate income taxes last year, accounting for about 40% of the $43 billion it paid worldwide, according to newly disclosed figures that provide a clearer look at the company’s international tax payments.
The Financial Times reports that the Irish payment increased sharply after the European Union’s top court ordered Apple in 2024 to pay €13 billion in back taxes. The court found that Ireland had granted Apple unlawful state aid that allowed the company to benefit from a tax rate of less than 1%.
The new figures were published under EU rules that require large companies to disclose revenue, profit and corporate income tax figures for individual countries across the bloc and certain tax jurisdictions.
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Apple booked a large share of its profits in Ireland
Apple reportedly booked around a quarter of its global pre-tax profit through its Irish entities during the year ending September 2025, even though Ireland accounted for only about 3% of the company’s workforce.
The company employed 5,575 people in Ireland, where its European headquarters are based, and reported around $6 million in pre-tax profit per employee. In Germany, Apple employed 4,089 people and reported about $51,000 in pre-tax profit per employee while paying $153 million in cash taxes.
Ireland has long attracted major US technology companies with its corporate tax system, although the country ended the so-called “double Irish” tax structure in 2015.
Apple said it remains one of the world’s largest taxpayers and argued that the new disclosures do not show every type of tax it pays. The company said corporate income taxes differ from consumption taxes such as VAT, which businesses generally pay in markets where customers buy their products and services.
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