Which media companies paid the most (and the least) tax?
Netflix paid no tax in Australia (Oscar Vargas)
New figures reveal which big media, marketing, advertising and tech groups paid the most tax to the Australian government, and which paid nothing at all.
The figures reveal Google’s local operation paid $132.4 million in tax off a total income of $2.08 billion, and a taxable income of $483.2 million. Google Cloud Australia, meanwhile, paid a further $732,985 from a taxable income of $2.4 million. Its total earnings were $169.7 million.
Of the other international tech giants operating on Australian shores, Facebook Australia paid $38.6 million off earnings of $1.36 billion, and a taxable income of $128.8 million.
Amazon’s various operations were split across numerous ABNs (Australian Business Numbers), with Amazon Web Services earning $3.43 billion, and paying $61 million off a taxable income of $203.5 million. Amazon Commercial Services raked in a further $3.12 billion, but its taxable income was only $83 million, leading to a tax bill of $24.9 million. Amazon Corporate Services, meanwhile, had a total income of $1.21 billion, with a $69.9 million tax bill from a taxable income of $233.1 million.
Linkedin paid $6.6 million from a taxable income of $22 million and earnings of $149.2 million.
The figures are from the 2024 financial year and are part of the government’s corporate tax transparency initiative.
In streaming, Netflix had a total income of $1.19 billion locally, but paid no tax as its taxable income was listed as zero. Having high earnings, but no taxable income could be a result of a company being loss making, as companies only pay tax on profits, not losses. It could also be due to tax offsets and deductions, carrying losses forward from previous years, or, most commonly in the case of the big global companies, charging Australian operations high fees for services that are then booked in low-tax jurisdictions.
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Other large corporations in the sector deemed to have no taxable income include agency holding group Dentsu, which had a total local income of $242.6 million, but no local taxable income, and Optus’ parent company Singtel, which generated $8.2 billion locally, but had no taxable income and thus paid no tax.
Dentsu’s global agency offering (Dentsu)
By comparison, Telstra had a total income of $21.53 billion, $2.72 billion of which was deemed taxable, resulting in a tax bill of $756.3 million. Holding group WPP AUNZ had an income of $646.4 million, and paid $5.6 million in tax off its taxable base of $26.8 million. And Omnicom Media Group paid close to $13 million from a $43.3 million taxable income and $437.5 million in total earnings.
News Corp stood out on the list as it was deemed to have a taxable income of close to $300 million off the back of a total income of $1.82 billion. Its tax payable column, however, was blank.
Nine, meanwhile, paid $20.4 million in tax after earning $2.23 billion with a taxable income of $102 million. Seven also paid $20.4 million from overall earnings of $1.52 billion and a taxable income of $73.6 million.
In radio, ASX-listed Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) paid $4.1 million from a taxable income of $15.2 million off the back of $502.5 million in earnings, and ARN Media paid $9.2 million from a taxable income of $44.6 million from $289.1 million in earnings. Nova Entertainment, meanwhile, paid $2.8 million off a taxable income of $21.6 million from an income of almost $200 million.
Outdoor advertising operator Ooh Media paid $19.5 million from a taxable income of $65 million, from total earnings of $627 million. Magazine publisher Are Media paid $3.1 million from a taxable income of $10.8 million off $250.6 million.
ATO assistant commissioner Michelle Sams said there are high levels of tax compliance from large businesses (ATO)
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) said the percentage of large entities which paid no income tax in the report had decreased from 31% in the 2023 FY report to 28%.
Assistant commissioner Michelle Sams said: “While there are legitimate reasons why a company may pay no income tax, the Australian community can be assured we pay close attention to those who don’t pay corporate tax and ensure that they are not gaming the system.
“Continued investment in the Tax Avoidance Taskforce bolsters our efforts to identify and take action against those companies that don’t pay the right amount of tax.”
