Apple’s Irish Entity Reports Soaring Profits and Tax Contributions
Apple Operations International Limited, Apple’s principal Irish-registered company, has recently filed its financial accounts, revealing a pre-tax profit of a staggering $71 billion for the year 2023. This figure marks an increase from the previous year’s $69.3 billion, underscoring the tech behemoth’s robust financial health.
The disclosed accounts, which are for the Irish arm of the California-based tech titan, show that the company’s turnover reached $222.8 billion last year. This amount represents a significant portion of Apple’s global sales, including those in the United States, where it remains a dominant market player.
Despite a slight decrease from 2022’s turnover of $218.89 billion, the Irish entity continues to contribute over half of Apple’s total sales. In a notable financial move, the dividend paid by this Irish-headquartered arm surged to just over $92 billion in 2023, up from $20 billion the previous year, reflecting a substantial return on investment for its US parent company.
When it comes to tax contributions, Apple’s Irish entity has shown a consistent upward trajectory. In 2023, the net tax paid rose to $7.871 billion, a modest increase from $7.69 billion in 2022. This trend aligns with the overall rise in corporation tax collected by the Irish government, which reached €23.8 billion last year—a significant jump from a decade ago.
The increase in Apple’s tax payments is indicative of broader changes in global tax rules that have prompted many multinationals to adjust their corporate structures and profit management strategies. Apple, in particular, has seen a depletion of its intra-group deferred tax assets—a tool that had previously helped to mitigate its overall tax liabilities.
These deferred tax assets, which included Irish capital allowances for investments such as intellectual property purchases within the corporate group, have been reduced to nil. This contrasts sharply with the $22.5 billion in intra-group deferred tax assets reported as recently as 2016.
Apple’s strategic shift follows global tax reforms initiated in 2015, which have led several large multinationals to “on-shore” intellectual property to Ireland. These reforms aimed to curb the benefits of holding assets in other jurisdictions and brought an end to tax minimization strategies like the ‘Double Irish’ scheme.
As one of Ireland’s largest corporation tax contributors, Apple’s financial activities continue to have significant implications for both local and international tax landscapes.