No tax paid by more than a third of large companies

Friday, 9 Dec 2016 08:27:34 | Michael Janda

Companies in the struggling resources and manufacturing sectors were less likely to pay tax. (PhotoXpress)

More than a third of large public and private companies paid no tax in 2014-15, according to data released by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

The ATO's latest corporate tax transparency report showed 36 per cent of large firms had zero tax payable in 2014-15.

The entities covered by the report are public and foreign firms with an income of $100 million or more and companies privately owned by Australian residents with an income of $200 million-plus.

There were 1,904 companies that fell into these categories.

Resources and energy had the greatest proportion of firms that did not pay any tax, at just under 60 per cent, while almost 40 per cent of manufacturers also paid nothing.

Financial firms, retailers and other companies in the services sector were much more likely to have paid up, with less than 30 per cent having a zero tax bill in 2014-15.

The data needs to be read in the light of a commodity downturn that sent many resources and energy firms into a loss, and the ongoing troubles affecting Australian manufacturing.

Tax commissioner Chris Jordan said the total income figure related to revenue, but did not mean the company actually made a profit from that revenue.

"No tax paid does not necessarily mean tax avoidance," he said.

"Even companies with very high total income sometimes make losses."

Mr Jordan cited Qantas as a prime example of a company with a very high total income in 2014-15 that paid no tax because it made a loss due to the costs incurred running the business.

"These figures alone do not tell the complete story of a company's tax affairs or their level of engagement with the ATO," he said.

"There are no surprises here to the ATO."

More to come.

AustraliaPlus

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No tax paid by more than a third of large companies

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