[DigitalToday reporter Jae-won Choi] Apple cut its corporate tax burden for fiscal 2026 by about $2.7 billion through Singapore tax benefits, the report showed. As the scale of benefits has grown beyond Ireland, long cited as a major tax minimisation base, debate has resurfaced over multinationals shifting profits and tax fairness.

On Nov. 9 (local time), Japanese media outlet Gigazine, citing the Financial Times, reported that the fact was revealed in Apple’s annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Apple’s fiscal 2026 ended on Sept. 26.

According to the filing, Apple’s pre-tax profit was $159.24 billion. The baseline tax amount applying the U.S. federal corporate tax rate of 21 percent uniformly was $33.44 billion, but its accounting corporate tax expense was $27.06 billion, for an effective tax rate of 17 percent.

The tax reduction effect from Singapore’s low tax rates and tax incentives was $5.49 billion. After reflecting additional tax of $2.51 billion under the global minimum tax and other adjustments of $311.0 million, the net tax-saving effect was about $2.67 billion. That exceeds Ireland’s net tax-saving effect of about $2.57 billion.

Accounting corporate tax expense and actual payments differ. Apple’s cash corporate tax paid in that fiscal year totaled $34.59 billion, of which the amount paid in Singapore was $3.25 billion.

The FT estimated Apple’s profits attributed to Singapore in 2026 at up to $50 billion. This is a media estimate, not a definitive country-by-country profit figure disclosed by Apple.

Singapore’s statutory corporate tax rate is 17 percent, but it provides tax benefits to certain companies. Apple’s main local entities had an effective tax rate of about 10 percent from 2023 to 2025, according to reports. Singapore has applied a 15 percent global minimum tax from fiscal years starting in 2025. Tax transparency group FACT Coalition assessed that the filing showed Singapore is a key tax minimisation base for Apple.

Apple previously had tax recovery of more than 13.0 billion euros confirmed under a 2024 ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union in an illegal state aid case involving Ireland. No determination has been made that the Singapore tax saving is illegal.