The short version
What this evidence tells us.
This is a system map, supported by observed revenue and official explanations. Personal income brackets below are for 2026–27. Revenue tables describe the stated historical year. State thresholds and specialised levies need their own jurisdiction and commencement dates.
Figures retain their own dates, populations and scope. The complete evidence and original source links remain below.
Evidence and context
Four questions for every tax
What is taxed? A wage, business profit, purchase, landholding, transaction or other activity. Who is legally liable? This can differ from the person sending the payment. Who collects it? The ATO, border authorities, a state revenue office or a council. Who ultimately bears the cost? The answer can involve consumers, workers, owners or landlords through changes in prices, wages and returns. Collection data alone cannot measure that final economic burden.
An employer sending PAYG withholding to the ATO is remitting an employee's income tax. A retailer remitting GST is collecting tax through sales, after allowable credits. Company income tax and employer payroll tax are separate liabilities. Counting everything a business remits as tax borne by that business misdescribes the flow. The Parliamentary Budget Office tax inventory (opens in a new tab) distinguishes tax bases, payers and collectors.
Evidence and context
Commonwealth tax families
| Family | Base and payment route | Essential distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Personal income tax | Individuals' taxable income; wage withholding, instalments and annual assessments | Includes income beyond wages; deductions change taxable income, offsets change tax payable |
| Medicare levy and surcharge | Income-based liabilities subject to their own rules | Separate from the marginal-rate table; neither is a premium buying a personal Medicare account |
| Capital gains tax | Net taxable capital gains enter income-tax calculations | Generally part of income tax, not an additional national revenue pot to add again |
| Company income tax | Companies' taxable income, after allowable deductions and adjustments | Turnover, accounting profit, taxable income, expense and cash paid differ |
| Superannuation taxes | Relevant contributions and earnings under super rules | Contributions into a member's super account are not themselves general tax revenue |
| Fringe benefits tax | Employers' provision of taxable benefits | Different from employee PAYG withholding and state payroll tax |
| GST | Taxable supplies and imports, with credit rules | Broad consumption tax with GST-free and input-taxed exceptions |
| Excise and excise-equivalent customs | Specified fuel, alcohol and tobacco products | Product-specific rates and units; imported and domestic equivalents must not be counted twice |
| Other customs duty | Relevant imports, subject to tariff classifications, origin and concessions | Australians importing are generally responsible for Australian import duties |
| Wine equalisation and luxury car taxes | Defined transactions in wine and qualifying cars | Separate regimes with exemptions and thresholds |
| PRRT | Qualifying petroleum project profits under the resource-rent regime | Different base and timing from royalties and company income tax |
| Non-resident withholding | Specified payments such as interest, dividends and royalties | Instrument, treaty and exemption rules matter; nationality alone does not determine tax |
| Major bank levy | Certain liabilities of covered large banks | Neither a tax on all bank deposits nor personal income withholding |
| Agricultural and industry levies | Defined commodities, production or activities | Often specific policy purposes; inspect the enabling law and classification |
| Visa charges and remaining statutory taxes | Specified applications, licences or activities | A charge's name does not settle whether budget accounts classify it as a tax |
Sources: PBO inventory (opens in a new tab), FBO 2025–26, Table 1.3 and tax Note 3 (opens in a new tab), ATO CGT explanation (opens in a new tab), ATO GST (opens in a new tab) and ATO Medicare levy (opens in a new tab). This table groups the system; it does not claim every statutory charge is separately catalogued.
Evidence and context
Personal income tax step by step
The ordinary resident rate schedule for 2026–27, excluding the Medicare levy, is:
| Taxable income | Tax before applicable offsets and other adjustments |
|---|---|
| A$0–18,200 | Nil |
| A$18,201–45,000 | 15% of the amount over A$18,200 |
| A$45,001–135,000 | A$4,020 plus 30% of the amount over A$45,000 |
| A$135,001–190,000 | A$31,020 plus 37% of the amount over A$135,000 |
| Above A$190,000 | A$51,370 plus 45% of the amount over A$190,000 |
Source: ATO resident rates (opens in a new tab), 2026–27 table. Residency and special taxpayer rules matter; citizenship is not the rate-table test. The 15% band replaced the 16% band applying in 2025–26.
Illustration: at A$100,000 taxable income, the schedule produces A$4,020 + 30% × A$55,000 = A$20,520 income tax, before offsets and the levy. The 30% rate applies to income in that band, not all A$100,000. PAYG amounts withheld through the year are credits against the assessment. A refund settles an overpayment or applicable offset; it is not evidence that no tax was incurred.
The ordinary Medicare levy rate is 2%, with reductions and exemptions under its rules. For an illustrative taxpayer paying the full levy, A$100,000 × 2% adds A$2,000. The Medicare levy surcharge has separate eligibility and thresholds; it is excluded from this example. ATO Medicare levy (opens in a new tab).
Bracket creep occurs when nominal incomes move further into fixed brackets. Separating changes due to employment, wage growth, inflation and policy is necessary before calling an increase a new tax. Revenue rising in dollars does not alone measure whether real living standards improved.
Evidence and context
Company tax and dividends
The ordinary company framework uses a 30% rate, with 25% for eligible base rate entities. Eligibility involves turnover and passive-income tests; it is not simply every business calling itself small. Special entity rules also exist. The ATO's company-rate guidance (opens in a new tab) and base-rate explanation (opens in a new tab) are the authorities; this dossier uses the rates only to explain mechanics, not assess individual companies.
For a simplified company with A$100 taxable profit and no adjustments, 30% tax leaves A$70. If distributed with full franking, the eligible shareholder's treatment recognises the A$30 of company tax through the imputation system. Actual entitlement depends on shareholder and holding rules. Adding gross company tax and a hypothetical full personal tax on the same distributed profit would ignore that mechanism. ATO franking definitions (opens in a new tab).
The latest corporate transparency report publishes total income, taxable income and tax payable. It does not publish all deductions, tax losses or accounting profit. A company with large revenue and a blank tax-payable field cannot be assigned a tax-evasion finding from those fields alone. Equally, the dataset does not establish that every company has paid all tax legally due. ATO report interpretation (opens in a new tab).
Evidence and context
GST through a supply chain
GST is generally 10% on taxable supplies. An eligible registered business generally claims credits for GST on creditable purchases and remits the net amount. GST-free supplies and input-taxed supplies are distinct: the credit treatment differs. ATO explanation (opens in a new tab) and GST Act section 9-30 (opens in a new tab).
Illustration, assuming all supplies are taxable and all stated credits are available:
| Step | Cash paid | GST collected | Input credit | Net GST remitted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer sells to retailer, with no credited inputs in this simplified example | A$110 | A$10 | A$0 | A$10 |
| Retailer sells to household | A$220 | A$20 | A$10 | A$10 |
| Across the illustrated chain | A$20 |
The household's final A$220 price includes A$20 GST. Adding A$10 and A$20 as final tax would double-count the creditable intermediate transaction. GST on business imports can also be creditable where the rules permit; the import value is not government revenue.
Evidence and context
State, territory and local taxes
| Family | Who usually administers it | Common trigger and public flow |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll tax | State/territory revenue office | Employers' taxable wage bills above jurisdiction thresholds; grouping rules matter |
| Transfer and landholder duties | State/territory revenue office | Property transfers and certain indirect acquisitions of landholdings |
| Land tax and relevant property surcharges | State/territory revenue office | Taxable holdings, with jurisdiction-specific exemptions and valuation rules |
| Municipal rates | Local government; ACT arrangements differ | Property-based revenue supporting local services |
| Motor vehicle duty and relevant registration taxes | State/territory agencies | Vehicle transfers, registration or use under the applicable regime |
| Insurance duties and emergency-service levies | State/territory agencies | Insurance or other specified bases; funding arrangements vary |
| Gambling and betting taxes | State/territory agencies | Defined gaming revenue, wagering, machines, lotteries or licences |
| Waste, parking, development and specialised levies | Relevant state or council body | Specified activities; classification as tax, service charge or contribution needs checking |
The preserved WA 2025–26 Overview of State Taxes and Royalties (opens in a new tab) supplies a substantial starting point, including interstate comparisons, exemptions, rates and historical changes. It is a 2025–26 guide, not authority for an unverified 2026–27 liability. Its contents include payroll, transfer/landholder duties, land tax, insurance, vehicles, gambling, waste, emergency-service and rehabilitation levies, and commodity royalties.
Selected ABS state/local tax classifications for 2024–25 record A$41.700 billion payroll/labour-force taxes, A$34.447 billion conveyance duties, A$20.002 billion land taxes, A$25.138 billion municipal rates, A$15.548 billion motor-vehicle taxes, A$10.027 billion gambling taxes and A$9.808 billion insurance taxes. These are classifications in the combined state/local workbook, not the same as each government's net tax total. The municipal-rate category includes the ACT's arrangements. ABS Table 10 (opens in a new tab).
Evidence and context
How the tax burden is distributed across governments
In 2024–25, ABS reports approximately A$675.173 billion Commonwealth taxes, A$139.287 billion state taxes net of intergovernmental taxes, and A$24.514 billion local taxes net of intergovernmental taxes. The published all-government total is A$838.974 billion, or 30.2% of GDP. The federal collection share is about 80.5%, but states receive federal transfers, including GST. Collection responsibility and final spending responsibility are different. ABS taxation release (opens in a new tab).
For the same period, the Commonwealth ABS tax table separates A$316.226 billion personal income tax, A$25.663 billion government health insurance levy, A$143.659 billion company income tax and A$94.790 billion GST. These are GFS accrual classifications. They should not be substituted into the 2025–26 federal cash table. ABS Table 1 (opens in a new tab).
Evidence and context
Revenue forgone, tax gaps and the public return
Three different questions are often collapsed into “missing tax”:
- Concessions and exemptions: government deliberately departs from a benchmark tax treatment. Treasury's 2025–26 Tax Expenditures and Insights Statement (opens in a new tab) describes the estimates and distribution. Revenue forgone is not a forecast of the money that would be collected if the treatment disappeared; behaviour and interactions change. Adding all estimates into a recoverable pot is unsound.
- Tax gaps: estimated differences between theoretically payable tax and collections under existing law. These require a method, population, period and uncertainty statement. ATO tax-gap research (opens in a new tab).
- Timing and non-cash amounts: an assessment, cash payment, refund, carried-forward loss and deferred tax balance can concern different periods. The corporate disclosure file is not the government's bank ledger.
The resource question needs an additional comparison: what Australia receives for depletion and use of public resources, after considering royalties, tax, public support, infrastructure, rehabilitation and other costs. That comparison is developed in big business and resources. It requires a defined baseline and cannot be settled by a turnover-based “tax rate”.