Key takeaways
- Apple cut its tax bill by $2.7 billion in fiscal 2026 by booking up to an estimated $50 billion of profit in Singapore, more than the $2.6 billion it saved through Ireland.
- Apple paid $27 billion in corporate taxes. At the 21% US federal rate, it would have been $33 billion.
- My view: it’s legal, and that’s exactly the problem. The same company that saves billions on taxes saves $25 a day on its own engineers and sends us the bill through higher prices.
Apple cut its tax bill by $2.7 billion in fiscal 2026 by booking up to an estimated $50 billion of profit in Singapore, where it paid an effective rate of around 10%, according to the Financial Times. Together with Ireland, that’s about $5.3 billion Apple didn’t pay.
In this article: Legal? Yes. That’s the problem · $9 million per employee? Come on · The rich company with the small savings · “The largest taxpayer in the world” · The 15% minimum didn’t stop anything · What it means for you · FAQ
Legal? Yes. That’s the problem
Let me say it first, before someone writes it in the comments: this is legal. Nobody broke a law. But the law was written by people, and companies with an army of tax lawyers find every hole in it. When an ordinary person moves his salary somewhere “more efficient”, it’s called tax evasion. When Apple does it with $50 billion, it’s called “tax planning”. For God’s sake, is it the same world or not?
$9 million per employee? Come on
Here is the number that tells everything. In Singapore, Apple booked about $9 million of pretax profit per employee. Worldwide, it’s under $1 million. Do you think people in Singapore work nine times harder than people in Cupertino? No. The profit isn’t made there. It’s only written down there, because there it’s cheaper. It’s like a shop that sells bread in your town but sends every receipt to a cousin in another country, because there nobody asks.
The rich company with the small savings
And now put it next to everything we saw. Apple cut its own engineers’ AI budgets to $25 a day. It gave $25 million for the White House ballroom. It prepares a bigger price for the iPhone 18, and I still think it will be $200 more, not $100. And at the same time, it keeps $2.7 billion away from the tax office in one country alone.
So where does Apple save? On its own people, and on us. Where does it spend? On gifts to power and on lawyers who move profits around the planet. That’s not a technology company anymore. That’s an accounting company that also sells phones.
“The largest taxpayer in the world”
In 2017, when everyone attacked Apple for Ireland, Apple called itself “the largest taxpayer in the world”. Fine, in absolute numbers maybe. But in Ireland, it once paid 0.005%, and Europe’s top court made it pay back more than €13 billion. Now the trick moved to Asia. Same game, new address. And this time, Apple didn’t even want to comment.
The 15% minimum didn’t stop anything
Remember when the world agreed on a 15% global minimum tax and everyone said the party was over? Singapore clawed back $2.5 billion from Apple. And Apple still came out $2.7 billion ahead. My guess: the minimum tax won’t move Apple anywhere. It will just look for the next country with the next “incentive”. Remember my words.
What it means for you
You won’t change Apple’s taxes. But you can stop believing that every price increase is about “rising costs”. The next time Apple tells you the iPhone costs more because of components, think about $50 billion booked in Singapore. And if your phone works, wait. Nobody has to fund this accounting with their wallet.
Also on Evolt News: Apple Stores Signed People Up for Subscriptions Without Asking · Apple Gave $25 Million for Trump’s Ballroom · Ternus Cut Apple’s AI to $25 a Day. Now He’s “Frustrated”? · iPhone 18: Bigger Battery, Bigger Price
Featured image: Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
This article is opinion.
Apple’s Singapore taxes: FAQ
How much did Apple save on taxes through Singapore?
About $2.7 billion in fiscal 2026, according to the Financial Times’ analysis of Apple’s annual report.
How much profit did Apple book in Singapore?
The FT estimates up to $50 billion in 2026. Apple’s Singapore subsidiaries booked nearly $40 billion in pretax profit in 2025.
What tax rate does Apple pay in Singapore?
Singapore’s headline rate is 17%, but Apple’s effective rate there was around 10% from 2023 to 2025, thanks to incentives.
How much tax did Apple pay in 2026?
About $27 billion. At the 21% US federal rate, it would have been about $33 billion.
Does the 15% global minimum tax change this?
Singapore’s top-up tax clawed back $2.5 billion from Apple in 2026, but Apple still saved about $2.7 billion.
What did Apple say?
Apple declined to comment.
I read this news on AppleInsider.
Sources: Financial Times, AppleInsider, Irish Times, Apple annual report.
Our Take
Apple’s Singapore move is legal, and that’s what makes it worse. A company that books $9 million of profit per employee in a low-tax hub can’t tell us it needs to save on AI for its engineers or raise iPhone prices.
The 15% minimum tax didn’t stop the game, it only changed the address. Watch what Apple does with its money, not what it says about costs.
