Remarks at the 2026 Shareholders’ Meeting
At the 2026 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on June 4th, 2026, the CEO of TSMC stated, “The company also paid taxes as high as 25%.” I was puzzled by this figure, as it is extremely high, and Wei Zhejia’s statement did not provide details about the numerator and denominator of this 25%, nor the source of the figure or the year it referred to.
Therefore, I decided to clarify this figure.
What is TSMC income tax rate?
According to TSMC’s published data over the years, the effective tax rate for TSMC companies is approximately 12% to 15%.
Note: Taiwan’s corporate income tax rate is 20%, and this 20% tax is levied on net profit. Under normal circumstances, no Taiwanese corporate entity will have an effective tax rate exceeding 20%.
Public Data from Taiwanese Government
According to statistics published by the Taiwanese Ministry of Finance regarding “National Corporate Income Tax,” all registered enterprises in Taiwan:
Taiwan’s total annual corporate income tax revenue is approximately between NT$800 billion and NT$1 trillion.
TSMC pays approximately NT$80 billion to over NT$100 billion in corporate income tax annually.
Based on TSMC’s actual tax payments over the years, this accounts for approximately 10% to 12% of the total corporate income tax of all enterprises in Taiwan.
TSMC income tax increased these years
TSMC’s 2024 annual report
According to TSMC’s officially released annual financial report for 2024, TSMC’s effective corporate income tax rate for the entire year of 2024 was 16.65%. Income tax (i.e., corporate income tax) expenses in 2024 amounted to NT$234.341 billion. According to data released by the Ministry of Finance, the total corporate income tax in Taiwan in 2024 was NT$1,118.1 billion.
Therefore, TSMC alone paid NT$234.341 billion in corporate income tax, accounting for 20.96% of the total corporate income tax paid by all companies in Taiwan (NT$1,118.1 billion)!
TSMC’s 2025 annual report
According to TSMC’s official annual financial report for 2025, TSMC’s effective corporate income tax rate for the entire year of 2025 was 15.95%. The income tax expense (i.e., corporate income tax) in 2025 was NT$326.107 billion. According to data released by the Ministry of Finance, the total corporate income tax in Taiwan in 2025 was NT$1,148.2 billion.
Therefore, TSMC alone paid NT$326.107 billion in corporate income tax, accounting for 28.4% of the total corporate income tax paid by all companies in Taiwan (NT$1,148.2 billion)!
Conclusion
Therefore, the 25% figure mentioned by TSMC’s CEO, “The company also paid as much as 25% in taxes,” likely refers to TSMC’s corporate income tax payment of NT$326.107 billion in 2025, accounting for 28.4% of the total corporate income tax payment of NT$1,148.2 billion from all companies in Taiwan!
Alternatively, the average of the 2025 and 2024 figures for TSMC’s corporate income tax payment as a percentage of the total corporate income tax payment from all companies in Taiwan is 24.68%!
In short, TSMC alone accounts for approximately one-quarter of the total corporate income tax paid by all companies in Taiwan; this is truly a significant contribution to Taiwan.
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