Three multinational companies paid close to 50% of State’s corporate tax in 2024

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by Irish Times, click this post to read the original article.

Just three companies – technology groups Apple and Microsoft and pharma group Eli Lilly – were responsible for almost half the corporation tax collected by the State in 2024.

A report by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Ifac) estimates that the three US multinationals paid 46 per cent – or around €13 billion – of the €28.1 billion collected that year.

It has warned that a heavy reliance on a limited number of companies for a substantial tax take “carries significant risk”.

While the budgetary watchdog does not name the companies involved, publicly available financial statements indicate that iPhone maker Apple paid approximately €5.8 billion in corporate tax here in 2024.

This was alongside the €14 billion it paid as a result of its high-profile tax battle with the European Commission.

Separate accounts show Apple’s tech rival Microsoft, which employs about 6,400 people in Ireland, paid approximately €4.8 billion in tax here in 2024. Eli Lilly, which manufactures the ingredients for its top-selling weight loss drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro in Ireland, paid about €2.2 billion.

Drug giant Pfizer was previously in third position in terms of Ireland’s top corporate taxpayers, but a fall-off in earnings in 2024 as demand for its Covid vaccine and medicine slumped saw it eclipsed by Eli Lilly.

Ifac’s report highlights what it describes as the “exceptionally concentrated” nature of Ireland’s corporate tax base, with just two companies responsible for €11 billion or almost 40 per cent of receipts in 2024.

It notes that corporation tax here almost doubled between 2021 and 2024, “largely driven by increased payments from the top three payers”. However, it warns that as “corporation tax revenues become more concentrated, they also become more risky”.

[ Central Bank boss urges Government to save more of State’s tax windfallOpens in new window ]

“Future receipts could be much higher or lower than current levels,” the budgetary watchdog says.

On a positive note, it says the two highest-paying tech companies continue to perform strongly. Both firms reported double-digit global revenue growth in 2025 “and market analysts expect this growth to continue into 2026 at least, supported by strong demand for their latest products and services”, it says.

The council also notes that Ireland appears to be a key manufacturing base for the active ingredient used to make hugely popular weight-loss and diabetes medicines.

“Higher sales of these medicines in 2025 increased corporation tax receipts in Ireland. Some of this was because one large pharma group front-loaded some exports to the US ahead of expected tariffs,” it said.

Eli Lilly shipped approximately $42.3 billion (€36.4 billion) of ingredients for its weight-loss drugs from Ireland to the US in the first four months of last year in a bid to avoid tariffs.

Corporate tax receipts are expected to rise again in 2026 as a new minimum global tax rate of 15 per cent rate, agreed as part of an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development agreement on international tax in 2021, kicks in.

[ Government spending is rising faster than appropriate levels, says IfacOpens in new window ]

Estimates suggest this higher rate could yield an additional €5 billion in receipts for the exchequer. Ifac warns, however, there are clear downside risks.

“Relying heavily on just two of the world’s biggest tech companies for a substantial stream of corporation tax revenue carries significant risks,” it says.

“At the firm or the sector level, developments such as new products not selling well, senior leadership change, pivots to new product forms and tighter regulation of the industry could result in a sharp fall in profits,” it says.