Apple Australian raked in AU$9.39 billion in sales for the year ending 28 September 2019, an increase of $307 million compared to the previous year. $8.1 billion came from hardware sales, while the remaining $1.2 billion came from services.
CRN has accessed Apple's public ASIC filings for the last financial year (pdf) and can report that it paid significantly more in income taxes, but booked significantly less in income tax expenses.
In 2017, coughed up $90 million for a tax adjustment dating back years prior, on top of another $80 million in income tax. 2018 saw a similar arrangement, with Apple paying for a $30 million tax adjustment on top of $127 million in other taxes.
In 2019, Apple Australia accrued $120.9 million of income tax expenses, compared with $164 million in 2018. Apple doesn't disclose how much tax it actually paid, but according to its ASIC filings, it paid $134 million in income tax charges, up from $75 million in 2018.
which must have pleased global CEO Tim Cook, who earlier in January called for the global corporate tax system to be overhauled.
The irony hopefully isn’t lost on Cook, given that most of Apple Australia's customers are booked in Ireland, a nation that's in the past been happy to assist with tax-friendly business structures. Apple Australia is also in-part owned by Apple Operations International, an entity incorporated in Ireland.
Apple's local year included its ongoing battle over plans to build a flagship retail store in Melbourne’s Federation Square. The stoush finally came to an end in April 2019 when Heritage Victoria ruled against Apple’s plans. The phone-and-Mac-maker also saw department store chain Myer dump its products in order to focus on higher-margin items.
Correction: A previous version of this story stated that Apple paid $120.9 million in income taxes. This is incorrect and the story has been updated to reflect this.