Microsoft’s Irish operations paid tax of $5.6 billion (€4.9 billion) last year, almost a fifth of total global taxes it paid in the year, according to a filing by the company under new European Union disclosure rules.The figure confirms the tech giant’s status as one of the biggest contributors to Ireland’s corporate tax revenues, which amounted to €32.9 billion last year. The European Union’s new country-by-country reporting directive has mandated multinationals with global revenues of more than €750 million to disclose specific financial data, including how much tax was paid in EU states and their pretax profits.A new filing by Microsoft under the directive for the 12 months to June 2025 disclosed it booked $47 billion (€41.3 billion) in pretax profits at its Irish operations in that financial year. That accounted for 38 per cent of the group’s profits globally.As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the data for Ireland shows Microsoft’s Irish operation generated more than $7 million in pretax profit for each of its employees in the State – 13 times its worldwide average.The Journal noted that investors had not previously seen such country-by-country breakdowns, which, it said, go far beyond what is required by US securities rules.The new rules only came into force for 2025 earnings, with Microsoft among the first of the big US multinationals to report as its year ends in June.Microsoft has a large network of 23 subsidiaries in Ireland, including many firms that manage the global finances for its LinkedIn and Activision Blizzard businesses. These firms reported $196 billion of revenue in Ireland in the period. A statement by Microsoft said the company has provided this information to tax authorities for several years under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) framework. “Microsoft pays the taxes we owe in every country where we operate. We know there are strong views about whether companies are paying enough, and we believe providing this context leads to a more informed conversation.”The company led by Satya Nadella first set up in Ireland in 1985 and employed 6,654 staff here in the past financial year. Microsoft’s Irish business eclipsed the performance of all its other European operations. In Germany, it made $661.3 million in pretax profits and paid $174.2 million in tax, while in the Netherlands it paid $105 million in tax after a profit of $311 million.The company said all other tax jurisdictions outside the EU booked $279.2 billion of sales on an aggregated basis and $74.6 billion of pretax profits. The company also paid $22.4 billion in tax outside the EU.Other large US corporations have also disclosed large tax payments to Ireland in recent months under separate new reporting provisions imposed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.They include weight loss drug giant Eli Lilly which paid a $6.6 billion Irish corporation tax bill in 2025.Apple is understood to also be among the top three largest taxpayers in the State alongside Eli Lilly and Microsoft, with their collective contributions comprising almost half of the Republic’s corporation tax returns.US president Donald Trump has previously criticised large US firms for paying large tax bills abroad and has committed through his “America first” policy to push companies to pay these taxes domestically.