In the 2022-23 financial year, Australians contributed over $577 billion in taxes, marking a significant increase from the previous year’s $530 billion, as revealed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Personal income tax accounted for the largest portion, totalling approximately $298 billion, representing 51.6% of the total revenue. Companies added $140 billion (24.2%), with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) contributing $81.7 billion, or 14.2%.
Remarkably, despite this hefty tax collection, a group of millionaires managed to avoid paying any income tax. Among the 24,350 individuals earning over $1 million, 139 did not contribute due to various deductions. More commonly, Australians made collective claims of $28.3 billion for work-related expenses during this period.
In addition to personal and corporate taxes and GST, the government’s revenue also included $25.4 billion from excises on tobacco, fuel, and alcohol, alongside $24 billion from superannuation taxes. However, the petroleum resource rent tax, imposed on energy companies extracting oil and gas, yielded only a modest amount in revenue.
The luxury car tax (LCT) and wine equalisation tax (WET) combined resulted in just $4.2 billion, a mere fraction of less than 1% of the overall tax revenue. Notably, surgeons remained the highest-paid professionals in Australia, with an average income of $472,475. The affluent eastern Sydney postcode 2027, which includes the upscale suburbs of Pipers Point, Edgecliff, and Darling Point, stood as the nation’s wealthiest area, boasting an average income of $279,712.