The Qantas Group is committed to transparent corporate reporting, and is pleased to publish a summary of its tax affairs for 2016/17.
Qantas is a major part of the Australian economy, both in terms of our direct impact as an employer of 30,000 people and purchaser of local goods and services, as well as our broader impact on national trade and tourism. A study by Deloitte Access Economics estimated our total economic impact at 0.7 per cent of Australia’s GDP, or $11.6 billion.
There is a tax component to virtually all of the millions of transactions that the Qantas Group undertakes every year – from GST, FBT, payroll tax and company tax through to sector-specific taxes like the passenger movement charge. Our primary focus on all tax matters is compliance. We are committed to paying what we owe and have a robust governance framework to manage our tax affairs. In total, the Qantas Group paid and collected a combined total of $3.2 billion in 2016/17. This was 14 per cent higher than the prior year.
Due to our carry forward tax losses, Qantas was not required to pay any company tax in 2016/17. This stems from almost $3 billion in accumulated tax losses from prior years, which now sit at $951 million due to the company’s strong financial performance more recently. Once these losses are exhausted, Qantas will return to paying company tax among the other taxes we pay and collect.
This document forms part of Qantas’ broader corporate reporting suite, and should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report and Annual Review for 2017 for a full picture of our activities.
View and download a PDF of the Qantas Voluntary Tax Transparency Report 2017.