The Australian Tax Office has released its tax transparency report for 2019-20, detailing the tax payments of Australia’s largest companies.
While revenue collection for that year was heavily affected by the pandemic and recession, the data show many of Australia’s biggest corporate names paid full freight on their taxable income.
Rio Tinto paid 29% on nearly $18 billion in income; the Commonwealth Bank paid more than 29% on its $11 billion in profit; Fortescue Metals paid nearly 30% on just under $10 billion profit; NAB, Westpac and ANZ all paid nearly 30%; Coles paid 30% on its $1.6 billion profit; BHP’s iron ore division paid 30% on $4 billion on its profit and 24% on its group profit of $18.7 billion, the biggest of the year.
It was a different story for fossil fuel companies, however. Gas giant Santos paid no tax on the $29 million profit it claimed to have made off total revenue of more than $5 billion, and it paid just $127 million in Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) from its Western Australian operations.
Origin Energy claimed to make no profit at all off more than $14 billion in revenue, and paid no tax. Woodside paid just $176 million in tax off nearly $2.2 billion in profit — or about 8% — which it claimed from $8 billion in revenue.
That means the three biggest fossil fuel culprits collectively paid $176 million in company tax of revenue of nearly $28 billion.
Another gas giant, Chevron, claimed profit of just $169 million off $12.2 billion in revenue, and didn’t pay a cent of tax, and paid no tax on $3.7 billion that went to a subsidiary. Shell paid no tax and claimed no profit on more than $5 billion in revenue.
Chinese-owned Yancoal paid no tax on $18 million of profit and more than $5 billion in revenue. Whitehaven Coal paid no tax on $1.8 billion in revenue. Adani’s Abbott Point terminal paid no tax on $557 million in revenue.
Another major climate culprit, News Corp — one of corporate Australia’s biggest tax dodgers — yet again paid no tax, this time off revenue of $1.73 billion. Nine Entertainment paid $52 million on profit of $217 million, and revenue of $2.4 billion.
Scotty’s government is chasing welfare recipients over $32m pandemic-related over-payments while businesses/billionaires are allowed to keep billions in taxpayers $$$. Double standards anyone?
I’ve said it before, Scotty’s government doesn’t care about plebs, they only ever look out for their big business mates/donors. Hypocrites.
You’re wrong about double standards. The current government has no standards on moral issues, business issues or anything that does not affect their personal prosperity!!!!! A sort of state prosperity religion.
: ) Cheers. The Morrison government is the laziest (and the most corrupt, allegedly) do nothing government I’ve ever known. History will not be kind and nor should it be.
Hardly any surprise that the fossil fuel mob need to open their wallets to the corrupt political class is it?
I’d love a ‘Tax Dodging for Beginners’ article on this. How the f*** is this legally possible?
It’s possible if you pay enough into the coffers of the liberal party or the pockets of its parliamentary members
It’s all laid bare in the cabinet papers that you are not allowed to see.
LNP DGAF Never Have Never Will
Companies don’t pay tax on profit, they pay it on taxable income. For the large miners, their taxable income is reduced by losses in earlier years as well as depreciation on their multi-billion dollar expenditure on plant.
The ATO is all over this industry so it’s unlikely that there is any large scale illegality going on.
You forgot to mention the effects of transfer pricing schemes and various fees paid to associated companies situated in tax havens. If those companies didn’t ultimately make large profits they would not continue the activity.
Those are much harder these days and they are pretty much the ATO’s key focus when it comes to corporate tax.
Which is why tax should be paid on TURNOVER – bugger all the deductions & allowances!