Virgin Australia once more paid no earnings tax in 2024 on account of carried-over losses, whereas Qantas returned to paying earnings taxes, the ATO has mentioned.
The Flying Kangaroo in FY2023–24 exhausted its pandemic-related carry-over losses and paid $24 million in tax within the latter half of the 12 months, whereas Virgin says it expects to start paying earnings tax once more in FY25–26 as soon as its personal carry-over losses have run out.
This adopted the 2 main airline teams each paying zero earnings tax in 2022–23 as a result of huge losses every sustained in the course of the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In its Voluntary Tax Transparency Report 2024, Qantas mentioned it anticipated its company tax funds to “improve considerably” in 2025.
“As well as, the group collected and handed $3.3 billion in GST, earnings tax, and aviation-specific taxes such because the Passenger Motion Cost,” the airline wrote.
“The taxes collected and paid are one a part of Qantas’ general financial contribution to Australia. In FY24, the group carried greater than 50 million passengers, uplifted greater than 200,000 tonnes of freight and employed greater than 29,000 individuals.
“Because of its actions, Qantas contributes an estimated $14.1 billion to the nationwide financial system, representing roughly 0.6 per cent of Australia’s GDP. Additional, it facilitates an extra $14.9 billion by way of tourism expenditure throughout Australia.”
In its personal report for 2024, Virgin mentioned it had generated $576.0 million of taxable earnings in Australia in that monetary 12 months.
“However this, in accordance with Australian taxation regulation, these taxable income have been decreased to nil as a result of software of carried ahead earnings tax losses. As at 30 June 2024, Virgin Australia has cumulative carried ahead earnings tax losses of $514.8 million,” it mentioned.
“Virgin Australia expects to pay earnings tax in Australia in FY26, as soon as all carried ahead earnings tax losses have been extinguished.”
Virgin nonetheless paid and picked up $1,203.3 million of mixed taxes in FY23–24, together with “Australian and international consumption taxes (resembling GST and VAT), earnings tax (Samoa), Fringe Advantages Tax, PAYGW, stamp obligation and numerous ticket taxes”.
The information comes as the share of firms that paid no earnings tax in Australia dropped to twenty-eight per cent in 2023–24, down from 31 per cent within the earlier 12 months. This was the bottom proportion in 11 years of the Australian Taxation Workplace’s Company tax transparency (CTT) report.
“Australia has among the highest ranges of tax compliance of enormous enterprise on this planet with 94.1 per cent of tax paid voluntarily, and 96.3 per cent after ATO’s compliance actions,” mentioned ATO assistant commissioner Michelle Sams.
“Whereas there are authentic the reason why an organization might pay no earnings tax, the Australian group could be assured we pay shut consideration to those that don’t pay company tax and make sure that they don’t seem to be gaming the system.
“Continued funding within the Tax Avoidance Taskforce bolsters our efforts to establish and take motion in opposition to these firms that don’t pay the correct amount of tax.”
Australia introduced in a mixed complete of $95.7 billion in company earnings tax in 2023–24 throughout all 4,110 firms listed within the report, with the most important single tax invoice coming from mining large Rio Tinto, at $6.3 billion.
