Apple reduced its tax bill by US$2.7 billion (€2.4 billion) this year by channelling profits through Singapore, according to new disclosures highlighting the city-state’s emergence as the technology giant’s biggest tax shelter.
The figures, filed alongside Apple’s annual report under new US reporting requirements, show that the company used Singapore’s tax incentive regime after booking as much as US$50 billion in profits through its Asian hub in 2026.
Its tax savings in Singapore exceeded the US$2.6 billion reduction achieved through Ireland, where Apple maintains its European headquarters, according to disclosures published this week.
‘While Apple’s reliance on Ireland was first revealed more than a decade ago, the enormous tax savings in Singapore are a major revelation,’ said Zorka Milin, co-director of the Washington-based Fact Coalition, a tax transparency group.
Apple declined to comment.
Singapore becomes Apple’s biggest tax shelter
The disclosures highlight how major US technology companies continue to benefit from accumulating profits in low-tax jurisdictions, despite more than a decade of international efforts to create a fairer corporate tax system.
Under new US federal accounting rules, listed companies must disclose when the tax paid on their overseas profits differs significantly from the statutory federal rate of 21%.
Had Apple paid the 21% US federal rate on all its global profits in 2026, its total tax bill would have reached US$33 billion. This illustrates the scale of the US$5 billion in tax savings obtained through Ireland and Singapore.
Instead, Apple paid a total of US$27 billion in corporate taxes this year.
Many US multinational companies do not pay the full 21% federal rate on all their domestic income because of deductions and tax credits. However, the difference between this rate and the taxes paid elsewhere indicates which overseas jurisdictions provide companies with the greatest tax benefits.
Apple has faced intense scrutiny over its use of offshore hubs to reduce its tax liabilities.
In 2016, a high-profile European Union state aid investigation found that Apple had illegally benefited from tax breaks in Ireland. The company was subsequently required to repay more than €13 billion in Irish taxes, together with interest.
Multinational companies can shift profits from higher-tax jurisdictions to lower-tax countries through transactions between subsidiaries, a practice known as profit shifting.
Global minimum tax has yet to end tax advantages
Growing criticism of such practices led to a landmark agreement in 2021, when countries led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) agreed to introduce a minimum effective corporate tax rate of 15%.
Many low-tax jurisdictions, including Ireland and Singapore, aligned themselves with the initiative, with some anticipating that multinational companies would leave as tax rates increased.
However, such an exodus has yet to materialise, allowing these countries to collect additional tax revenue.
Singapore, for instance, recovered US$2.5 billion from Apple in 2026 through a top-up tax introduced last year as part of its alignment with the OECD initiative.
Mike Lewis, director of investigative think tank TaxWatch, said the global minimum tax had established a relatively low threshold, meaning that ‘to some degree, it’s business as usual for some of these companies’.
Others argue that multinational companies remain in these jurisdictions for reasons beyond tax advantages, including skilled workforces, infrastructure, and stable political and legal frameworks.
Singapore incentives continue to benefit Apple
Apple’s largest Singaporean subsidiary operates as a sales and marketing hub, selling products and services to the company’s overseas entities while also developing intellectual property, according to its accounts.
Across its two main Singaporean entities, Apple generated approximately US$9 million in pre-tax profit per employee in 2024, the latest year for which the figures can be calculated.
In Ireland, Apple’s pre-tax profit per employee stood at US$6 million last year. The equivalent figure across its global operations in 2025 was less than US$1 million.
The substantial differences highlight the disparity between Apple’s workforce size in these jurisdictions and the profits recorded there.
Singapore implemented the OECD rules for financial years beginning in 2025. Although its headline corporate tax rate of 17% is above the global minimum, companies can negotiate incentives that reduce their effective tax rates.
The US disclosures indicate that Apple benefits from such arrangements, which provide tax relief and credits for activities Singapore considers to have high economic value.
Between 2023 and 2025, Apple’s effective tax rate in Singapore fluctuated at around 10%, according to the accounts of its main local entities.
The top-up taxes introduced under the OECD initiative are expected to bring the rate closer to 15% this year and in the future.
Apple recorded nearly US$40 billion in pre-tax profits through its Singaporean subsidiaries in 2025, according to their latest published accounts.
The figure could reach as much as US$50 billion this year, based on Financial Times estimates derived from the US disclosures.
‘We’re starting to get an idea of just how much lost [tax] revenue is being left on the table, billions of dollars just for this one company in a single year,’ Milin said.
