Resources companies pay almost one third of Australia’s company tax bill

Resources companies made up just 0.6 per cent of Australian company taxpayers in 2023–24 but paid almost one-third of the nation’s company tax bill, new Australian Taxation Office figures show.

Mining and oil and gas firms paid $47.3 billion in net company tax in FY24, dwarfing the contribution of every other individual sector of the economy.

The 8,073 mining and oil and gas companies paid more company tax than the 1,007,222 companies operating across agriculture, hospitality, retail, construction, real estate, professional services, health care, transport, education, administrative and support services, information media and telecommunications and the arts.

Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA Chief Executive Officer Aaron Morey said the figures, released by the ATO this month, confirm the resources sector’s vast and outsized contribution to the national balance sheet.

“The evidence is unequivocal: the resources industry is the biggest corporate taxpayer in Australia by the length of the Super Pit,” Mr Morey said.

“Mining royalties get a lot of headlines but resources companies are also shovelling company tax to Canberra at a furious rate.

“The average Australian resources company pays 79 times more company tax than non-mining companies.

“Our sector’s company tax contribution has almost quadrupled over the past decade, with the resources industry nationally now paying almost one-third of Australia’s company tax – up from around one fifth in 2013-14.

“The latest ATO data shows the Commonwealth collected nearly $130 million in company tax from resources companies every single day in FY24, money that is vital to pay for essential services like Medicare, the NDIS and childcare.”

The ATO figures reveal oil and gas companies alone paid $10.4 billion in company tax in 2023-24 – the third highest of any individual business type and more than ten times the contribution of every property development company captured by the data.

“Recent campaigns have sought to mislead Australians by pretending Petroleum Resources Rent Tax (PRRT) is the only tax oil and gas companies pay,” Mr Morey said.

“That is simply wrong. PRRT is one part of a much larger tax contribution that includes company tax, royalties, payroll tax, excise and other state and federal taxes.

“The ATO’s own figures show oil and gas companies paid $10.4 billion in company tax alone in 2023-24 – which is more than seven times the $1.483 billion paid in PRRT in the same year.

“PRRT was designed as a super profits tax. It applies to individual projects only after they have recovered the substantial upfront costs – generally in the tens of billions of dollars – required to develop them.

“No-one looking honestly at the ATO data could claim the resources sector is not paying its way. Mining and oil and gas companies make up a tiny fraction of Australian company taxpayers but pay almost one third of the nation’s company tax bill.”

Media contacts: 

Josh Zimmerman j.zimmerman@cmewa.com / 0404 947 719

Natasha Mutch n.mutch@cmewa.com / 0435 383 382