Apple Australia has revealed that it has paid 97% of its 2016 profit in tax to the Australian government.
During the 2016 financial year, profit before the tax comes in at AU$132 million and with AU$128 million paid in tax, the iPhone maker was left with AU$3.7 million in net profit, as compared to the AU$123 million in 2015.
The Cupertino giant said in its financial report lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) that the amount of tax paid was in line with existing taxation laws in the country at that point in time. It explained that its latest tax bill consisted of $58.4 million for an “adjustment relating to prior years,” as well as $69.8 million for the 2016 year.
The company also noted that the Australian Taxation Office is currently auditing the organization for its tax liabilities in 2012.
In 2015, the Australian government announced it would closely monitor the behavior of multinationals offshoring income. A senate inquiry that year saw Apple, Microsoft, and Google executives called up to explain their practices, while then-treasurer Joe Hockey said the ATO had a target list of 30 companies to audit.
Under Australia’s multinational anti-avoidance laws, companies operating with an annual global income of more than AU$1 billion in Australia are now required to lodge their general purpose financial statements to the ATO — as of July 1, 2016 — if they are not already doing so with ASIC.
According to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) 2014-15 Corporate Tax Transparency report, Apple coughed up AU$146 million in tax — which was up from the AU$72 million it paid a year prior.
Apple and Google were previously called out by the federal government for employing the so-called Double Irish Dutch Sandwich method, which is a method of funneling money through other countries from Australia in order to pay a lower tax rate.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2017, Apply is projecting revenue between $76 billion and $78 billion.
