Silicon Valley behemoth Apple’s sales in New Zealand, while still totalling more than $1 billion a year, have declined over the past 12 months.

Financial statements for the year to June 2024 for its local subsidiary, Apple Sales New Zealand (ASNZ), were recently filed to the Companies
Office showing revenue for the year declined by 6%, from $1.212b to $1.143b.

Its longstanding tax arrangement, whereby ASNZ pays tax across the Tasman to the Australian Taxation Office instead of Inland Revenue, continues, with $15.3 million paid on profits of $38.1m. The higher-than-usual rate of taxation was mostly down to a $4.2m charge after under-provisioning the amount due in previous years.

The arrangements with the ATO, first uncovered by the New Zealand Herald in 2017, means ASNZ has not paid corporate tax in New Zealand for at least the past decade, during which it has become one of the country’s largest smartphone suppliers.

Alex Waldron, a spokesman for Apple, told the Herald: “Apple pays tax in every country we do business, including New Zealand.”