The proportion of companies paying no tax in Australia has dropped to its lowest level on record, even though corporate behemoths like Santos did not pay a cent in income tax.
All up, 1149 large firms paid no tax in 2024/25, the tax office revealed in its corporate tax transparency report on Thursday.
The Australian Taxation Office said 4299 corporate entities with reported income greater than $100 million paid a combined $87.5 billion during the financial year - a drop of $8.2 billion from 2023/24.
The reduction in tax paid was mainly due to falling profitability of miners as a result of lower commodity prices, the tax office said.
Weaker coal, lithium and iron ore prices resulted in a drop of more than $12.5 billion in tax paid by the sector.
"The majority of Australia’s largest companies are paying the right amount of tax and meeting their tax obligations. We continue to take firm action where we identify non-compliance," ATO acting deputy commissioner Michelle Sams said.
The proportion of corporates paying no tax dropped from 28 to 27 per cent, which Ms Sams said was a reflection of the ATO's increased work on compliance.
Companies paying no tax does not automatically imply they have done the wrong thing, Ms Sams said.
Because corporate income tax is levied on profits, not revenue, firms that make a loss in a given tax year or have more deductions than income can record no tax payable.
Oil and gas companies paid $10.6 billion in income tax, a $200 million increase from the year before, while the amount of revenue raised by the petroleum resource rent tax rose 26 per cent to $1.87 billion.
The number of companies paying the PRRT climbed to 21, almost double the amount in 2023, as a result of more liquefied natural gas projects hitting the deductions cap, Ms Sams said.
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said Australia was a world-leader in making corporations pay the tax they are due, thanks in part to Labor tightening the rules to prevent companies using debt to artificially reduce their tax bill.
"Paying the right amount of tax is not only a legal obligation, it’s a crucial part of supporting the services and infrastructure that Australians rely on every day," he said in a statement.
Iron ore giant Rio Tinto paid the most tax at $5.2 billion, with BHP second at $3.9 billion and Commonwealth Bank in third place with $3.8 billion.
Global oil and gas behemoth Chevron paid $2.9 billion, but Adelaide-based gas producer Santos paid no income tax for an 11th straight year, despite receiving $5.1 billion in total income.
Optus owner Singtel paid no tax on $8.3 billion of income.
