Tax is one of the major headaches in business. But how much does the big end of town really pay? Do big businesses pay the same rates as SMEs? Here are the taxes paid by 25 of our biggest companies.
In 2015, the ATO launched an annual list of Australia’s biggest earners and the amounts of tax they pay, as a means of public disclosure.
Titled the Report of Entity Tax Information, it listed the total income, taxable income and amount of tax paid for 1,904 Australian companies. This comprised 1,579 public and foreign-owned companies with an income of at least $100 million in 2014-15 financial year, as well as 325 privately owned Australian companies with an income of at least $200 million.
According to the ATO’s figures, these companies raked in a staggering combined income of $1.78 trillion in the 2015 tax year – more than the total GDP of many countries.
The taxable income for all of these companies combined totalled $168.9 billion, and the total tax paid on these earnings amounted to $41.9 billion – an equivalent rate of just under 25 per cent on average.
Around a third of the companies on the list paid no tax at all, primarily on the back of not making any taxable income for the year. However, 134 companies managed to avoid paying any tax despite accruing taxable income for the year.
As you would expect, there was a great deal of variation in the amounts and proportional rates of tax paid across the board.
My Business has compiled this breakdown of some of our best-known companies, and calculated the proportion of tax paid against their taxable income from the ATO's figures. The 25 corporations have been ranked according to their total income generated 
(all figures have been rounded to a single decimal point).
1. Wesfarmers Limited
Tax paid: $958.7 million
Taxable income: $3.3 billion
Total income: $68.6 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 29 per cent
2. Woolworths Limited
Tax paid: $898.8 million
Taxable income: $3.1 billion
Total income: $49.5 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 29 per cent
3. National Australia Bank Limited
Tax paid: $2.7 billion
Taxable income: $12.9 billion
Total income: $46.1 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 21 per cent
4. Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Tax paid: $3.1 billion
Taxable income: $10.8 billion
Total income: $44.2 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 29 per cent
5. Westpac Banking Corporation
Tax paid: $2.9 billion
Taxable income: $10.2 billion
Total income: $36.8 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 28 per cent
6. BHP Billiton Limited
Tax paid: $1.7 billion
Taxable income: $6.3 billion
Total income: $33.0 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 27 per cent
7. Rio Tinto Ltd
Tax paid: $2.7 billion
Taxable income: $9.8 billion
Total income: $31.2 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 28 per cent
8. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited
Tax paid: $2.1 billion
Taxable income: $8.7 billion
Total income: $30.0 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 24 per cent
9. Telstra Corporation Limited
Tax paid: $1.7 billion
Taxable income: $6.0 billion
Total income $25.7 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 28 per cent
10. Qantas Airways Ltd
Tax paid: $0
Taxable income: $211.7 million
Total income: $15.5 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 0 per cent
11. Insurance Australia Group Limited
Tax paid: $68.3 million
Taxable income: $746.7 million
Total income: $15.1 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 9 per cent
12. Lendlease Corporation Limited
Tax paid: $0
Taxable income: $0
Total income $8.8 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 0 per cent
13. EnergyAustralia Holdings Limited
Tax paid: $0
Taxable income: $0
Total income: $7.3 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 0 per cent
14. QBE Insurance Group Limited
Tax paid: $277.5 million
Taxable income: $1.0 billion
Total income: $6.8 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 28 per cent
15. Medibank Private Limited
Tax paid: $90.9 million
Taxable income: $359.1 million
Total income: $6.6 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 25 per cent
16. Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Ltd
Tax paid: $0
Taxable income: $0
Total income: $4.1 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 0 per cent
17. Myer Holdings Limited
Tax paid: $28.1 million
Taxable income: $108.4 million
Total income: $2.8 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 26 per cent
18. Ingham Holdings Pty Limited
Tax paid: $18.8 million
Taxable income: $69.7 million
Total income: $2.5 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 27 per cent
19. Seven West Media Limited
Tax paid: $57.6 million
Taxable income: $221.7 million
Total income: $1.8 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 26 per cent
20. Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Limited
Tax paid: $0
Taxable income: $12.2 million
Total income: $1.5 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 0 per cent
21. Flight Centre Travel Group Limited
Tax paid: $93.0 million
Taxable income: $317.0 million
Total income: $1.4 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 29 per cent
22. Harvey Norman
Tax paid: $82.3 million
Taxable income: $292.8 million
Total income: $1.3 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 28 per cent
23. Sydney Airport Limited
Tax paid: $0
Taxable income: $0
Total income: $1.2 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 0 per cent
24. Pacific Brands Ltd
Tax paid: $2.8 million
Taxable income: $28.8 million
Total income: $1.0 billion
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 10 per cent
25. Westfield Corporation Limited
Tax paid: $458,000
Taxable income: $3.6 million
Total income: $515.4 million
Percentage of taxable income paid as tax: 13 per cent
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