Technology giant Apple's sales in Australia grew by more than $1 billion last year lifting its profits, as our commitment to its iPhone remains unshakable, but the amount of tax the multinational paid fell.
Apple’s accounts lodged with the corporate regulator on Friday show it had total sales of $9.08 billion in the year to September 29, 2018 - up 13 per cent from $8.04 billion in 2017.
Apple sales jumped by 12 per cent in Australia last year.Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez
The iPhone maker returned a gross profit of $900 million from those sales, up from $756 million a year earlier.
But its tax bill fell by $18.8 million to $164 million.
Apple's accounts also include a more than half a billion ($543 million, up from $512 million) in "selling, general and administrative expenses", which are in addition to its cost of sales.
The accounts do not explain what the additional expenses were and spokesman for the American giant would not comment.
Including those unspecified expenses brings Apple's profit to $396 million.
Using that figure, Apple's accounts say it paid a tax rate of 30 per cent - Australia's official corporate tax rate - with its total payment to the tax office consisting of a $119 million bill, plus $15 million in expenses not deductible for tax purposes, and an under-provision from previous years of $30 million.
In 2017 Apple had a higher under-provision, of $90 million.
The Australian Tax Office latest tax transparency report showed that Apple, and fellow tech giants Microsoft and Facebook were all paying tax at a rate of 30 per cent.
Apple's net after-tax profit for 2018 was $232 million its best result in at least five years and up from $71 million in 2017, $4.7 million in 2016, $122.7 million in 2015, $172 million in 2014 and $53 million in 2013.
Apple declined to comment.
The result comes after Apple has had shaky start to 2019 sending shudders through Wall Street after revealing lacklustre iPhone sales particularly in China.
Mark Zirnsak, from the Tax Justice Network, said that Apple's tax bill remaining relatively stable even as its sales grew and the tax office cracked down on multinational companies to ensure they were paying their fair share raised questions.
It raises questions about whether we’ve done enough to change their tax-paying behaviour.
Mark Zirnsak
The tax payment in 2018 of $164 million is in the same ballpark as in the previous three years, of $182 million in 2017, and $128 in 2016.
"The significance of this is that not much has changed," Dr Zirnsak said.
“It raises questions about whether we’ve done enough to change their tax-paying behaviour. Have the laws gone far enough?"
Mr Zirnsak said unspecified expenses that brought down in Apple's taxable income highlighted the need for greater transparency in company accounts so Australians could have confidence companies were "paying the tax they should be paying".
Apple, which on Friday had a market value of more than $1 trillion on ($US722 billion), has previously been accused of using corporate structures that allow it to route profits through low-tax jurisdictions and lower their tax bill in Australia.
Apple's Australian entity buys the iPhone and iPads it sells from other overseas Apple entities, and then re-sells them locally - paying tax on their profits.
Whether Apple Australia is paying a fair price for products from its related parties has been an area of focus for the tax office, which launched an audit of Apple in 2015.