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Demographics of large corporate groups

How the demographics of large corporate groups in Australia significantly impact revenue.

Last updated 2 October 2025

About large corporate groups

Large corporate groups make a significant contribution to the Australian economy and play a critical role in the tax system. They're important in creating community confidence in our tax system. Confidence is gained directly by their tax contribution, and indirectly because their compliance underpins willing participation in other taxpayer segments.

Definition of a large corporate group

We define a large corporate group as one with a group turnover greater than $250 million. There are approximately 2,164 large corporate groups with more than 9,000 income tax reporting entities in Australia. This represents around 38,000 active companies. These groups include Australian public, Australian private and majority foreign-owned businesses.

Large corporate groups – ownership, 2023–24

Of the 2,164 corporate groups, 29% (632) are Australian owned private companies, 25% (544) are Australian owned public companies, and 46% (988) are majority foreign-owned. 

Large corporate groups – income tax lodgments, 2023–24

Of the 9,096 income tax returns, 23% (2,111) were lodged by Australian owned private companies, 35% (3,132) were lodged by Australian owned public companies, and 42% (3,853) were lodged by majority foreign-owned companies.

Large corporate groups – total business income, 2023–24

Of the $3.1 trillion of total business income: majority foreign-owned businesses accounted for 43% ($1,303.8 billion), Australian owned private companies accounted for 6% ($202.6 billion), and Australian owned public companies accounted for 51% ($1,550.2 billion).

Large corporate groups – total profits, 2023–24

Of the $414 billion in total profits, majority foreign-owned businesses accounted for 40% ($167.0 billion), Australian owned private companies accounted for 5% ($18.9 billion), and Australian owned public companies accounted for 55% ($228.1 billion).

How much tax large corporate groups pay

The amount of tax payable by large corporate groups has increased sharply since the 2020 financial year, despite a slight decline in 2023–24. The upward trend generally reflects changes in:

  • economic conditions
  • commodity prices including iron ore, coal, oil and gas
  • fluctuations in the Australian dollar (AUD).

In recent years, the increase in tax reflects significant compliance payments from the Oil and Gas industry, due to our earlier interventions aimed at ensuring multinationals pay the right amount of tax.

Large corporate groups – contribution to tax revenue, 2018–19 to 2023–24

The contribution to tax revenue from 2018–19 to 2023–24 for large corporate groups, divided among the following sectors: Manufacturing, Construction and Agriculture; Wholesale, Retail and Services; Other Financial Services; Other Mining, Energy and Water; Major Banks; Oil and Gas; Large Diversified Miners. You can access the data shown in this chart through the link below the chart.

You can also view data for Large corporate groups – contribution to tax revenue, 2018–19 to 2023–24 in table format.

The number of large corporate groups in the Australian tax system is comparatively small, yet the impact they have on revenue is significant. The groups contribute a significant proportion to overall corporate income tax collections.

Large corporate groups – contribution to tax revenue, and concentration of tax contribution 2023–24

There are 4 infographics: The first infographic shows that in 2023–24 there were 2,164 large corporate groups, each with a turnover above $250 million, that collectively generated $3.1 trillion in total business income and $92.7 billion of the $142.2 billion in corporate income tax reported.; The second infographic shows the tax contribution from these 2,164 large corporate groups is equivalent to around 65% of all corporate income tax reported and 15% of total ATO tax collections.; The third infographic shows the largest 10 corporate groups reported $38.3 billion or 27% of all corporate income tax reported.; The fourth infographic shows the largest 100 corporate groups reported $67.9 billion or 48% of all corporate income tax reported.

While Australian public businesses only make up 25% of these 2,164 large corporate groups, they pay 58% of the corporate income tax, against 51% of the gross income, for this group. This is driven by the significant profits earned by a relatively small number of very large Australian-owned groups. Once these companies are excluded, the overall performance of other Australian public companies, private companies and majority foreign-owned companies are relatively similar.

Large corporate groups – ownership and tax contribution, 2023–24

Of the $92.7 billion tax reported, majority foreign-owned businesses accounted for 38% ($34.8 billion), Australian owned private companies accounted for 4% ($3.8 billion), and Australian owned public companies account for 58% ($54.1 billion).

Large corporate groups are involved in a diverse range of sectors across the economy. Those in the Banking, Finance and Investment, and Mining, Energy and Water industries:

  • are less than one-quarter (24%) of all large corporate groups
  • earn more than one-third (38%) of business income
  • contribute more than two-thirds (70%) of large corporate income tax.

Large corporate groups – industry demographics (income tax lodgments), 2023–24

The industry demographics for large corporate groups in 2023–24, by industry sector based on income tax lodgments. Of the 9,096 income tax returns lodged by large corporate groups: 19% are Manufacturing, Construction and Agriculture; 7% are Mining, Energy and Water; 17% are Banking, Finance and Investment; 4% are Insurance; 53% are Wholesale, Retail and Services.

Large corporate groups – industry demographics (business income), 2023–24

The total business income reported by large corporate groups for 2023–24, by industry sector. Of the $3.1 trillion total business income: 15% from Manufacturing, Construction and Agriculture; 22% from Mining, Energy and Water; 16% from Banking, Finance and Investment; 5% from Insurance; 42% came from Wholesale, Retail and Services.

Large corporate groups – industry demographics (tax reported), 2023–24

The tax reported of large corporate groups for 2023–24, by industry sector. Of the $92.7 billion tax reported: 52% came from Mining, Energy and Water; 17% from Banking, Finance and Investment; 3% from Insurance; 21% from Wholesale, Retail and Services; 7% from Manufacturing, Construction and Agriculture.

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