Revenue collection
As Australia’s principal revenue agency, the ATO facilitates the collection of revenue to fund public goods and services for the community. We do this through a range of collection systems, including income tax, goods and services tax (GST) and excise duty.
Net tax collections in 2018–19 were $426.0 billion, up $29.2 billion (7.4%) over the previous year, and $8.3 billion (2.0%) above the amount expected at the time of the Budget 2018–19.
Company tax collections increased by $9.0 billion (10.7%) in 2018–19. The outcome was $4.5 billion above the Budget forecast, largely reflecting higher-than-expected mining profits due to high commodity prices.
Total individuals tax collections grew by $16.7 billion (8.1%) this year. The outcome was $5.7 billion above the Budget forecast, partly reflecting higher-than-expected capital gains and dividend income, and weaker deductions.
Superannuation income tax collections increased by $0.5 billion (4.3%) this year. The outcome was $1.0 billion above the Budget forecast.
GST collections increased by $2.0 billion (3.2%) this year. The outcome was $2.2 billion below the Budget forecast, reflecting weaker than expected growth in consumption and dwelling investment.
Excise collections were $0.6 billion (2.6%) higher than 2017–18 and $0.2 billion higher than the Budget forecast.
|
Tax |
2016–17 |
2017–18 |
2018–19 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Gross PAYG withholding(b) |
179,355 |
192,229 |
204,764 |
|
Gross other individuals |
42,871 |
43,866 |
48,423 |
|
Individual refunds |
–28,364 |
–29,102 |
–29,514 |
|
Total individuals |
193,863 |
206,993 |
223,673 |
|
Companies |
68,408 |
84,549 |
93,590 |
|
Superannuation funds(c) |
8,218 |
10,804 |
11,269 |
|
Resource rent taxes(d) |
981 |
1,116 |
1,053 |
|
Fringe benefits tax(e) |
4,046 |
3,911 |
3,794 |
|
Total income tax |
275,515 |
307,373 |
333,379 |
|
Excise |
21,800 |
22,703 |
23,300 |
|
Goods and services tax (GST)(f) |
60,022 |
63,265 |
65,270 |
|
Other indirect taxes(g) |
1,506 |
1,586 |
1,657 |
|
Total indirect taxes |
83,328 |
87,554 |
90,227 |
|
Major bank levy(h) |
– |
1,139 |
1,560 |
|
Superannuation guarantee charge |
283 |
441 |
577 |
|
Foreign investment application fees |
134 |
114 |
94 |
|
Self-managed superannuation fund levy |
122 |
129 |
144 |
|
Total net tax collections |
359,381 |
396,749 |
425,980 |
|
Other revenue(i) |
666 |
326 |
–59 |
|
Total collections |
360,046 |
397,075 |
425,921 |
|
HELP/SFSS(j) |
2,129 |
2,462 |
2,915 |
NOTES
(a) The cash collections data presented in this table has been adjusted to exclude administered expenses and better align with the financial statements and the Final Budget Outcome. Totals may differ from the sum of components due to rounding.
(b) Includes amounts withheld from salaries and wages, TFN and ABN withholdings, dividend, interest, royalty, and mining withholding taxes.
(c) Includes income tax for superannuation funds and superannuation surcharge, and no TFN contributions tax.
(d) For 2016–17 and 2018–19, resource rent taxes include both petroleum resource rent tax and minerals resource rent tax.
(e) Includes Australian Government departments and authorities.
(f) Includes some collections by the Department of Home Affairs; in 2018–19, these were $4.2 billion. Also includes GST non-general interest charge penalties, which are not distributed to the state and territory governments under the intergovernmental agreement.
(g) Includes wine equalisation tax (WET) and luxury car tax (LCT), of which a small amount was collected by the Department of Home Affairs.
(h) Started 1 July 2017.
(i) The majority of ‘other revenue’ is net unclaimed superannuation monies. The ATO’s efforts to engage with and encourage fund members to reunite with their lost and unclaimed super has meant that transfers from ATO-held superannuation accounts to members exceeded receipts of unclaimed superannuation monies in 2018–19.
(j) Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) and Student Financial Supplement Scheme (SFSS) collections.
|
Collected from |
Collections |
Budget |
Variance |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Total individuals |
223,673 |
218,000 |
5,673 |
|
Companies |
93,590 |
89,100 |
4,490 |
|
GST |
65,270 |
67,510 |
–2,240 |
|
Superannuation funds |
11,269 |
10,310 |
959 |
|
Other |
32,179 |
32,788 |
–609 |
|
Total net tax collections |
425,980 |
417,708 |
8,273 |
In 2018–19, we issued income tax refunds with a total value of $43.1 billion. We also issued activity statement refunds with a total value of $64.0 billion. Total refunds were $107.2 billion, up 4.8% from 2017–18.
|
Type of refund |
2016–17 |
2017–18 |
2018–19 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Income tax |
|||
|
Income tax – Total individuals(b) |
28,364 |
29,102 |
29,514 |
|
Income tax – Companies |
9,550 |
9,311 |
9,609 |
|
Income tax – Superannuation funds(c) |
3,674 |
3,473 |
3,296 |
|
Income tax – Resource rent taxes(d) |
110 |
42 |
167 |
|
Income tax – Fringe benefits tax(e) |
706 |
565 |
546 |
|
Total income tax |
42,403 |
42,493 |
43,131 |
|
Excise |
34 |
30 |
27 |
|
Activity statements(f) |
56,700 |
59,777 |
64,006 |
|
TOTAL |
99,137 |
102,300 |
107,164 |
NOTES
(a) Refunds data presented in this table has been adjusted to exclude all administered expenses and better align with our financial statements and the Final Budget Outcome. Totals may differ from the sum of components due to rounding.
(b) Excludes administered payments, such as private health insurance rebate.
(c) Includes superannuation surcharge refunds.
(d) For 2016–17 and 2018–19, resource rent taxes includes both petroleum resource rent tax and minerals resource rent tax.
(e) Includes Australian Government departments and authorities.
(f) Excludes fuel tax credit business activity statement refunds.
Visit
https://www.transparency.gov.au/annual-reports/australian-taxation-office/reporting-year/2018-2019-18