Apple Singapore Tax Savings Hit $2.7B, Overtaking Ireland

Apple Singapore tax savings reached about $2.7 billion in fiscal 2026, more than the roughly $2.6 billion the iPhone maker saved through Ireland, according to a Financial Times analysis of Apple's annual report published on Sunday, November 8, 2026. The FT estimates Apple booked up to $50 billion of profit in the city-state during the year that ended September 26.

The figures come from Apple's Form 10-K filed on November 3, which for the first time breaks down the company's tax bill country by country.

How much did Apple save on tax in Singapore?

In the tax reconciliation of its fiscal 2026 annual report, Apple lists a $5.49 billion reduction from Singapore's lower tax rate, including incentives, measured against the 21% US federal rate. That benefit is partly offset by a $2.51 billion Singapore top-up tax and $311 million in other items, leaving a net saving of about $2.67 billion, or roughly €2.3 billion.

Ireland's line shows a $3.46 billion rate benefit minus $897 million in other items, a net of about $2.57 billion. Apple does not publish profit by country, so the "up to $50 billion" Singapore figure is the Financial Times' estimate, not a number from the filing.

Fiscal 2026 item	Singapore	Ireland
Net tax saving vs. 21% US rate	about $2.67 billion	about $2.57 billion
Cash income tax paid	$3.25 billion	$4.96 billion

Why is the Apple Singapore tax breakdown public now?

Starting with its 2026 report, Apple adopted the US accounting standard ASU 2023-09, which requires companies to itemize large reconciling items by jurisdiction and disclose cash taxes paid by country. Until last year, Apple grouped its foreign tax effects together.

Singapore's top-up tax is the city-state's version of the global 15% minimum tax for groups with at least €750 million in revenue, which applies from financial years starting in 2025. It narrows the gap with the US rate but, as the filing shows, does not close it.

What does it mean for Apple's overall tax rate?

Apple reported $159.2 billion in pre-tax income for fiscal 2026, of which $95.5 billion was foreign, and a $27.06 billion tax provision. Its effective tax rate rose to 17.0% from 15.6% in fiscal 2025, which Apple attributes mainly to a higher rate on foreign earnings and US currency loss rules. In fiscal 2024 the rate was 24.1% because of a one-time $10.2 billion charge after the EU's top court ordered Apple to pay Ireland back taxes.

The filing came a day after Apple reported record fiscal 2026 revenue of $478.8 billion, up about 15% from a year earlier.

It also lands as European governments keep looking for new ways to tax Big Tech, from global minimum taxes to proposals such as the France internet tax on data traffic.

Our take

Nothing in the filing suggests Apple broke any rules, and the minimum tax is already cutting into the benefit. But the new country-level data shows that Singapore, not Ireland, is now the biggest single lever in Apple's tax bill, and that will draw attention from lawmakers who spent a decade focused on Cork.