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Apple’s public filings released on Friday detail tax payments, revenues and profits in European countries for the first time, with the Irish arm accounting for a $17.1 billion tax bill during the fiscal year that ended in September 2025, according to a German Press Agency report on the data. The substantial payment stems primarily from the release of funds held in escrow following the European Commission’s order for repayment of back taxes. This marks Apple’s initial compliance with the bloc’s public country-by-country reporting mandate for large multinationals.
The European Commission had ruled in 2016 that Apple received illegal state aid through special tax arrangements in Ireland, leading to an order for approximately 13 billion euros in unpaid taxes from 2004 to 2014 plus interest. After years of legal proceedings culminating in a 2024 court decision, the escrow account was closed in May 2025 with the transfer to Irish authorities, the filings show. Ireland functions as Apple’s European headquarters, managing intellectual property and international sales distribution rather than domestic consumption.
In Germany the company reported $2.72 billion in revenue and a pre-tax profit of $209 million, resulting in a tax payment of $153.5 million, the disclosed figures indicate. The German operations employ 4,089 people, more than half of whom are engineers based in Munich, according to the same data. This transparency provides a clearer picture of Apple’s footprint in one of its major European markets.
The new EU rules require companies exceeding 750 million euros in annual global revenue to publicly report tax-related information per country, a shift from previous confidential submissions to tax authorities only. Implementation in Ireland began in 2023 for applicable financial years, with the first public reports appearing in 2026. Such disclosures aim to enhance accountability in corporate taxation across the European Union.
Apple’s Irish subsidiary generated approximately $34 billion in profit and employs 5,575 staff, the accounts reveal. The European Commission previously determined that the company’s effective tax rate on European profits had fallen as low as 0.005 percent in 2014 under the prior arrangements. The latest reporting coincides with broader international efforts including the OECD Pillar Two minimum tax agreement that Ireland has adopted.
