ato logo
Search Suggestion:

Ownership

Last updated 4 December 2018

The 1,073 foreign-owned entities in 2015–16 make up over half of the corporate transparency population and one-quarter of tax payable, while Australian public entities account for a further 30% of the population (620) and 69% of tax payable.

Figure 10: Corporate entities, by ownership type, 2015–16

There were 2,043 entities in scope for the transparency report in 2015–16. They include 620 Australian public entities, 350 Australian private entities and 1,073 foreign-owned entities.

Figure 11: Tax payable – corporate entities, by ownership type, 2015–16

 Entities in the population are grouped into three ownership segments. This figure shows the number of corporate entities in each ownership segment, the number with positive taxable income and tax payable amounts, and the amount of tax payable. In 2015–16, there were 350 Australian private entities, 1,073 foreign-owned entities and 620 Australian public entities. The Australian public entities make up 30% of the corporate transparency population, while accounting for 69% of the tax payable.

Corporate sector entities and groups

There are approximately 1.2 million companies operating in Australia and they reported total income tax payable of $65 billion in 2015–16. The 2,043 corporate tax entities reported in the transparency report represent almost 60% of total corporate income tax payable. 

However, these entities are not necessarily standalone entities and are sometimes part of a group of companies.

As shown in Figure 12, the 2015–16 corporate transparency population consists of entities that belong to 1,610 unique economic groups, as well as 199 standalone entities.

Figure 12: Corporate transparency population groups and entities, 2015–16

 1,809 economic groups and standalone entities were to some degree in scope for the transparency report in 2015–16, comprising 1,610 economic groups and 199 standalone entities.

QC54026