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Australian Taxation Office Annual Report 2020-21

Administered Schedule of Assets and Liabilities

as at 30 June 2021

		2021	2020	Original budget
	Note	$'m	$'m	$'m
ASSETS
Financial assets
Cash		393	470	546
Cash held in special accounts¹		75	76	-
Total financial assets		468	546	546

Non-financial assets
Receivables	15A	29,965	35,010	36,998
Accrued revenues	15B	14,207	12,302	13,743
Total non-financial assets		44,172	47,312	50,741

Total assets administered on behalf of the Australian Government		44,640	47,858	51,287

LIABILITIES
Payables
Subsidies		363	447	45
Personal benefits		11	9	8
Superannuation guarantee charge		62	43	43
Taxation refunds due		1,196	1,216	1,216
Superannuation holding account		76	76	78
Other payables		3	2	17
Total payables		1,711	1,793	1,408

Provisions
Subsidies	16	4,427	23,231	4,393
Personal benefits	16	1,150	1,167	1,167
Other accrued expenses	16	28	37	47
Income taxation refunds	16	1,886	1,610	1,718
Indirect taxation refunds	16	216	278	184
Superannuation guarantee payments	16	696	778	781
Unclaimed superannuation payments	16	775	506	582
Other refunds	16	15	23	-
Interest on overpayment of taxes	16	11	19	19
Total provisions		9,204	27,649	8,890

Total liabilities administered on behalf of the Australian Government		10,915	29,442	10,299

Net assets		33,725	18,416	40,989

¹ Cash held in special accounts does not include amounts held in trust for special accounts of $207 million (2020: $217 million). See Note 20 special accounts for more information.

The above schedule should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

Accounting policy

Administered liabilities

Administered liabilities include payables and provisions. Payables are recognised for claims on hand and provisions are raised for accrued expenses in accordance with the accounting policy in the administered expenses in Note 13. The majority of the ATO’s administered liabilities are not categorised as financial liabilities as they are statutory in nature.

Budget variances commentary: Schedule of assets and liabilities

Affected line items	Explanation of major variances
Cash	The actuals are lower than expected primarily due to timing difference in cash receipts and payments.
Receivables	Actual receivables are lower than budget primarily due to a higher-than-expected impairment of small debts for small businesses reflecting impacts of COVID-19. The lower than budget receivables was also due to higher than expected allowances for credit amendment driven by several disputes (i.e. litigation and objection cases) where the outcome is expected to be in favour of the taxpayer.
Accrued revenues	The actuals are higher than budget primarily due to goods and services tax (GST) consistent with higher GST revenue from a stronger-than-expected economic recovery from COVID-19. This was partially offset by lower accrued revenue for unclaimed superannuation monies (USM). An overstatement of accrued revenue at Budget 2020-21 contributed to this variance.
Subsidies payable	The actuals are higher than budget due to the timing difference in cash flow boost payments.
Income taxation refunds	The actuals are higher than budget primarily due to a higher provision for refunds for company tax, superannuation funds and petroleum resource rent tax. Provisions for refunds can be volatile due to the timing of lodgments, payments and compliance activity from year to year.
Indirect taxation refunds	The actuals are higher than budget primarily due to a higher provision for refunds for goods and services tax. Provisions for refunds can be volatile due to the timing of lodgments, payments and compliance activity from year to year.
Unclaimed superannuation payments	The actuals are higher than budget reflecting higher future unclaimed superannuation monies (USM) outflows expected as a result of higher than expected inflows in 2020-21.

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