Despite the fact that the top payers including banks and mining companies forked out $33 billion to the government, a new report has revealed that almost a third of Australian public companies paid no tax in 2020-21.
The report, released by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), showed that 32 per cent of public companies paid no tax in the 2020-21 financial year.
However, the top 20 per cent of public companies paid 87 per cent of all corporate tax, with the top 10 per cent paying 77 per cent.
The report also showed that the banking and mining sectors were the biggest corporate tax payers.
The data showed the top three corporate tax-paying companies were BHP Group, mining group Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals, which paid out $7.3 billion, $6.2 billion, and $5.8 billion, respectively, to government coffers in the 2020-21 financial year.
BHP Iron Ore paid $2.5 billion in corporate taxes, Roy Hill Holdings paid $1.9 billion, and Hancock Prospecting paid $1.1 billion.
In the 2020-21 financial year, three of Australia’s largest companies – Qantas, Virgin Australia, and Viva Energy Group – paid no corporate income tax.
Qantas grossed $5.9 billion in earnings in 2020-21, but reported no taxable income as it was severely hampered by the pandemic. The year before, its gross earnings topped $13.9 billion, but no income tax was paid then either.
Despite raking in $12.8 billion in revenue, Viva Energy Group- the company behind Shell-branded petrol stations- failed to pay any.
Virgin Australia also reported no taxable income but had gross earnings of $6 billion.
