TSMC Books Record NT$167.586B (US$5.10B) in 9M 2026 Subsidies

The company's Note 28 says the money came from the governments of the United States, Germany, Japan and China, paid to its subsidiaries TSMC Arizona, ESMC, JASM and TSMC Nanjing, mainly to subsidize the purchase cost of property, plant and equipment and part of plant construction and production costs. The nine-month 2025 figure was NT$71.898 billion, so this year's total is about 2.3 times larger. Focus Taiwan (CNA) reported that NT$166.996 billion arrived in the third quarter, after only NT$590 million in the first half.

What the filing does not break out

The statements give one combined figure. They do not split the NT$167.586 billion by country or by subsidiary, so any per-government number is not in TSMC's report. The grant agreements, the filing says, carry construction timelines and other conditions the subsidiaries must meet. TSMC Arizona is also eligible for a U.S. investment credit on qualified spending, which the filing says rose from 25% to 35% effective Jan. 1, 2026.

Grants against capex

Voltgrid's own arithmetic on the cash flow statement puts the grants in proportion. TSMC spent NT$1,289.971 billion on property, plant and equipment in the nine months, against NT$915.505 billion a year earlier, so grants offset about 13% of that cash outlay. They equal about 4.3% of the NT$3,898.727 billion in nine-month net revenue. Because the cash came almost entirely in one quarter, a quarterly run rate drawn from it would mislead.

Overseas fabs behind the money

CNA lists the sites. TSMC Arizona's first fab began commercial production in the fourth quarter of 2024 on a 4 nanometer process, and its second fab, now being equipped, is scheduled for 3nm mass production in the third quarter of 2027. In Kumamoto, Japan, JASM's first fab began commercial production at the end of 2024 and a second fab is due for mass production in 2028. The Dresden fab run by ESMC is scheduled to start mass production next year, and Nanjing operates a 12-inch wafer fab.

CNA also reported nine-month results by subsidiary: TSMC Arizona earned NT$53.986 billion, JASM NT$2.396 billion, and ESMC, still pre-production, lost NT$1.079 billion. Those figures come from CNA's reading of the statements, not from the note above.

Context from earlier coverage

The grants land in a heavy spending cycle. As Voltgrid reported, TSMC's board approved US$40.9 billion in capital appropriations on Nov. 10, and October revenue reached a record NT$586.89 billion. Texas filings that point to a two-fab site in Sherman have not been confirmed by TSMC.

What is not confirmed yet

TSMC has not published a country-by-country split of the grants, and neither the filing nor CNA says when the next payments are due. Whether the third-quarter jump reflects milestone payments for the Arizona, Japan or Germany projects is not stated. Watch the fourth-quarter report for a further total and for any added detail in the grants note.