Reference material is intended to help you get the most out of our statistics.
Definitions and calculations
In this section:
- Entity size
- Calculating net tax
- Estimating tax on net capital gains
- Estimating business net tax
- Calculating net GST
Entity size
In Taxation statistics, an entity is defined as an individual, a company, a fund, a self-managed fund, a partnership or a trust. The entity’s size, based on total business income, is shown in the table below.
Entity size |
Total business income |
|---|---|
Loss |
less than $0 |
Nil |
equal to $0 |
Micro |
$1 to less than $2 million |
Small |
$2 million to less than $10 million |
Medium |
$10 million to less than $100 million |
Large |
$100 million to less than $250 million |
Very large |
$250 million or more |
Total business income is the amount:
- an individual showed at the total business income label on the 2017 business and professional items schedule
- a company showed at item 6, label S (total income) on the 2017 company tax return
- a fund showed at item 10, label V (total assessable income) on the 2017 fund tax return
- a self-managed super fund showed at item 11, label V (total assessable income) on the 2017 Self-managed superannuation fund annual return
- a partnership or trust showed at item 5 at the total business income label on the 2017 partnership tax return or 2017 trust tax return.
Calculating net tax
Throughout the publication, 'net tax' is essentially the amount of tax owed for the income year, before refundable credits are taken into consideration. It does not generally equate to the amount of tax payable or refundable as shown on a notice of assessment.
A taxable entity is one whose net tax is more than $0. A non-taxable entity is one whose net tax is $0.
Find out about
Individual net tax calculation
These items are labels in the individual return form.
Taxable income or loss |
Total income or loss minus Total deductions minus Tax losses of earlier income years |
Tax on taxable income |
Taxable income or loss multiplied by Individual marginal tax rates |
Net tax |
Tax on taxable income plus Extra income tax minus Total non-refundable tax offsets plus Medicare levy plus Medicare levy surcharge plus Temporary Budget repair levy minus Remaining foreign income tax offset |
In this table:
- Extra income tax is any additional tax that you are required to pay, for example, the amount added to tax on taxable income when a primary producer’s average income exceeds taxable income in a particular year
- Remaining foreign income tax offset is a non-refundable tax offset. It can only be applied to reduce a liability to nil. It can’t result in a refund.
Company net tax calculation
These items are labels in the company return form.
Total profit or loss |
Total income (item S6) minus Total expenses (item 6Q) |
Taxable income |
Total profit or loss (item 6T) plus or minus Reconciliation items (item 7) |
Gross tax |
Taxable income (calculation statement: item A) multiplied by Relevant company tax rate plus R&D recoupment tax (calculation statement: item M) |
Net tax |
Gross tax (calculation statement: item B) minus Non-refundable tax offsets minus Franking deficit tax offset (calculation statement: items C, D and F) |
Super fund net tax calculation
These items are labels in the Fund tax return and Self-managed superannuation fund annual return respectively.
Taxable income or loss |
Total assessable income (item 10V/11V) minus Total deductions (item 11N/12N) |
Gross tax |
Taxable income or loss (item 11O/12O) multiplied by Fund type specific tax rate plus Tax on no-TFN quoted contributions (item 12J/13J) |
Net tax |
Gross tax (item 12B/13B) minus Non-refundable non-carry forward tax offsets (item 12C/13C) |
Estimating tax on net capital gains
In Taxation statistics, the tax on net capital gains is an estimate of the tax required to be paid, based on an average tax rate approach.
Average tax rate |
Net tax divided by Taxable income |
Estimated tax on net capital gains |
Average tax rate multiplied by Net capital gain |
Estimating business net tax
In Taxation statistics, business net tax is an estimate of the amount of net tax attributable to net business income. Business net tax is only calculated for taxable individuals with net business income and taxable income.
Proportion of taxable income sourced from net business income |
Net income or loss from business (sum of items 15B and 15C) divided by Taxable income (Taxable income or loss label on page 4 of the tax return) |
Estimated business net tax |
Proportion of taxable income sourced from net business income multiplied by Net tax |
In this table:
- The items are labels in the Business and professional items schedule.
- Where the proportion calculated above is greater than 1, it is changed to 1.
Calculating net GST
Net GST |
Gross GST payable plus Deferred GST payments on imports minus Input tax credits |
In this table, the net amount of GST on the activity statement can also be affected by increasing and decreasing adjustments.