Qantas is a major taxpayer and contributor to the Australian economy. We comply fully with all our tax obligations and we believe in playing our role in a strong, transparent Australian tax system.
In 2013/14 – the year covered by the ATO’s tax transparency report – we paid, collected or generated more than $2 billion in tax revenue for the Government, including the GST, payroll tax, the carbon tax and the passenger movement charge.
The reason we didn’t pay corporation tax in 2013/14 is simple: we reported a record $2.8 billion loss for the year. As corporation tax applies to profits, our taxable income for the year was zero. We look forward to paying corporation tax again as we continue our return to profit through our transformation program.
It’s also important to point out that Qantas’ overall contribution to the Australian economy goes far beyond tax and has an impact across the country. A recent Deloitte Access Economics report found that the Qantas Group is responsible for $11.4 billion in annual economic activity, or 0.7 per cent of GDP, as well as facilitating $9.5 billion in annual tourism spending – one in every nine dollars spent by tourists in Australia – and supporting over 61,000 jobs.
We welcome the debate that’s underway around the tax system and tax reform and, like every major tax-paying company, we look forward to taking part as that discussion moves forward in 2016.