Top 500 program results in 2024–25
In the 2024–25 financial year, our collaboration with Top 500 groups and compliance action enabled us to:
- Assure income tax paid by Top 500 group entities totalling $835.11 million. This result encompasses assurance activities relating to the 2018 to 2024 financial years. $15.47 billion in income tax has been assured over the life of the Top 500 program
- Finalise 7 audits and 23 reviews. As of 30 June 2025, 36 audits and 27 reviews were in progress. We escalate to review or audit when we identify an issue where we have a different view on its tax treatment, or where a Top 500 group doesn’t engage with us and demonstrate they want to comply with their tax obligations
- Raise income tax liabilities of $388.5 million, resulting in cash collections of $153.9 million from our assessments, with a total of $945.4 million collected since 2020. Prevention and sustained compliance revenue effects (representing future tax impacts of amended assessments) realised were $1.57 million, with a total of $144.9 million realised since 2020
- Raise income tax liabilities of $23.3 million from 39 voluntary disclosures, most of which were prompted by inquiries during our assurance engagements. Over three-quarters of voluntary disclosures related to errors that could have been avoided with effective tax governance. Examples of these errors include
- omitted rental, dividend or trust income
- overclaiming deductions due to poor record keeping
- understated interest income from related party loans
- not lodging fringe benefits tax (FBT) returns when providing employee benefits (especially motor vehicle-related benefits)
- claiming input tax credits for private expenses
- incorrect reporting of capital works and capital allowance deductions, including using incorrect depreciation rates
- failing to withhold and remit tax from interest and royalty payments to foreign residents.
To mitigate their higher potential risk of compliance issues and errors, groups with little or no tax governance will be subject to intensive engagements in the future. Additional tax officers will be involved in these engagements, with a focus on assuring that the correct amount of tax has been paid.
Finally, while the majority of the Top 500 groups are highly compliant, there are a small number of Top 500 groups that enter into arrangements to avoid tax. We address avoidance in our compliance reviews and audits. In the 2024–25 year, we made a finding of evasion in relation to one Top 500 group that led to significant assessments being raised.