The proportion of entities with nil tax payable has decreased over the production of this report down from 36% in 2013–14 to 33% in 2019–20. However, there was an increase in 2019–20, which was not unexpected due to the effects of COVID-19 related lock-downs on GDP growth and economic activity.
There was a significant increase in the proportion of public companies which paid nil tax in 2019–20 (see Figure 17). This was associated with service industries, transport and financial asset investing; which were affected by COVID-19.
The ownership cohorts are not directly comparable, as smaller Australian private entities with total income less than $200 million are not represented in the data (see Interpreting the results).
Figure 17: Proportion of entities with nil tax payable, by ownership segment, over 3 years