Apple paid Ireland $17.1 billion in taxes last year, representing around 40% of its worldwide total, according to a company filin, reports Reuters.
The tech giant said the amount paid to Ireland was “significantly higher” than income taxes accrued as it included €13 billion ($15.18 billion) in back taxes that it was ordered to pay Ireland by European Union’s top court in 2024.
Here’s the backstory: in July 2025, Apple’s escrow account in Ireland was closed, resulting in the transfer of almost €14.25 billion (about US$15 billion) to the exchequer, the Department of Finance revealed.
The value of the assets held in the account increased by €470 million in the 16 months in advance of its closure in May, having already grown by €400 million during the preceding year, reported The Irish Times. The article said this left the total value of the funds at €14.244 billion – slightly less than the €14.3 billion originally lodged by Apple in 2018 after the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) found that the group had received illegal state aid from Ireland.
In 2017, the Irish government established a fund to manage the estimated 13 billion euros it would collect from Apple in back taxes, nearly a year after the European Commission ruled the country had provided a “sweetheart deal” on tax to the U.S. firm.
The EC, Europe’s anti-trust and consumer investigation agency claimed that Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands had attracted investment and jobs by helping big companies avoid tax in other countries, including European Union members. The commission said Ireland was too lenient in rulings it gave to Apple and which helped the company shield tens of billions of dollars in profit from taxation.
In September 2024, the ECJ delivered its final verdict in the long-running tax case, ruling against Apple’s latest bid to overturn the Commission’s decision. Its ruling “set aside” a ruling by the EU’s second-highest court, the General Court, four years ago, which had quashed the commission’s decision that Apple owed the Republic the back taxes, notes The Irish Times.
Ireland fought the EU back-tax bill alongside Apple for eight years, seeking to defend its position as the location of choice for U.S. multinationals in Europe – and the billions of euros in direct and indirect taxes they bring in each year.
In 2016, the European Commission’s competition chief at the time, Margrethe Vestager, accused Ireland of having granted Apple illegal tax benefits, unfairly diverting investment away from other countries, notes Reuters.
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