Report: Apple saved over $5 billion in taxes through Singapore and Ireland in 2026

The Financial Times has uncovered a significant tax arrangement by Apple in 2026. The tech giant managed to save over $5 billion in taxes by strategically shifting profits through Singapore and Ireland. Apple's annual Form 10-K, filed with the SEC, disclosed this tax-saving strategy, which has been a subject of scrutiny for years.

Previously, the EU’s top court ruled in 2024 that Apple owed €13 billion in back taxes, a debt it settled in 2025. Prior to this, Apple had announced its plan to repatriate its $252 billion in overseas cash back to the US following tax reforms introduced by the Trump administration.

In response to discouraging such tax avoidance, more than 130 countries agreed in 2021 to introduce a minimum corporate tax rate of 15% for large multinational companies. This move resulted in an additional $2.5 billion in taxes for Apple in Singapore in 2026. Ireland and Singapore both adopted these new rules in 2024 and 2025 respectively.

The new US accounting rules, effective in 2026, require public companies to disclose when their taxes on overseas profits significantly differ from the US federal corporate tax rate of 21%. According to these rules, Apple saved $2.7 billion in taxes through Singapore, exceeding the $2.6 billion it saved through Ireland. Had Apple been taxed on all its global profits at the US federal rate, it would have owed a total of $33 billion, underscoring the magnitude of the tax reduction achieved through its strategic profit shifting.

Apple's total corporation taxes for the year amounted to $27 billion, representing a significant tax saving. The FT also noted that Apple's effective tax rate in Singapore hovered around 10% between 2023 and 2025, but is projected to rise to 15% under the new rules. Singapore's standard corporate tax rate stands at 17%.