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Income tax payable

Data on tax payable by ownership segment and by industry segment.

Last updated 9 November 2023

Over one million entities lodge company income tax returns in Australia. At the time of publication, the 2,713 entities in the corporate transparency report represent approximately 66% of total corporate income tax payable in 2021–22.

The increase in tax payable was primarily driven by the Mining, Energy and Water segment in particular, strong iron ore prices and increases in tax payable from coal, oil and gas producers. Wholesale, Retail and Services also showed strong growth in tax payable. Segments relating to Banking, Finance and Investment, and Manufacturing, Construction and Agriculture were relatively stable during the period.

Tax payable – by ownership segment

Australian public entities contributed the most tax paid at 60.2%. This is followed by foreign-owned entities at 28.3% and Australian private entities at 11.5%.

Foreign owned entities contributed the most to the growth in tax payable in 2021–22 with $8.0 billion. Australian public entities contributed $5.1 billion in growth, while Australian private entities had growth of $2.2 billion. This data is presented in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Change in tax payable by ownership segment

This graph shows that total tax payable by corporate entities in 2021–22 was $83,831 million, compared with $68,604 million in 2020–21. Tax payable increased in 2021–22 by $2,173 million for Australian private entities, $7,999 million for foreign-owned entities and $5,055 million for Australian public entities.

Tax payable – by industry segment

The increase in tax payable across the corporate transparency population this year was primarily driven by the Mining, Energy and Water segment, with a growth of $10.2 billion (see Figure 8). This was driven by strong commodity prices and high export volumes.

The Wholesale, Retail and Services segment showed strong growth of $2.2 billion, representing a return to more normal retail conditions. The Manufacturing, Construction and Agriculture segment increased its tax payable by $1.7 billion. Banking, Finance and Investment also showed growth, contributing $897 million. The Insurance segment had a small increase of $216 million in 2021–22.

Figure 8: Change in tax payable, by industry segment

This graph shows that total tax payable by corporate entities in 2021–22 was $83,831 million, compared with $68,604 million in 2020–21. Tax payable increased in 2021–22 an all segments. Banking, Finance and Investment increased by $897 million; Insurance increased by $216 million; Manufacturing, Construction and Agriculture increased by $1,710 million; Wholesale, Retail and Services increased by $2,221 million; and Mining, Energy and Water had increased tax payable of $10,182 million.

Economic and environmental factors can affect the performance of an industry segment each year. For example, the Insurance segment was affected by several natural disasters in 2021–22, negatively affecting its performance.

Read more about the reasons why some corporations pay no tax.

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