Which distie is paying the most Australian tax?
Dicker Data has topped the list of distributor tax payments in Australia, according to figures released by the ATO.
The figures, released as part of push for more corporate transparency, show Dicker Data – the only Australian-owned distributor on the list – paid $4.2 million in tax in fiscal 2014, after making total income of $626.7 million, with a total taxable income of $14.2 million.
Since fiscal 2014, Dicker Data has acquired Express Data and grown considerably. Last week the distributor announced that it had hit $1 billion in revenue for the current financial year – three weeks ahead of year end. The company operates on a calendar financial year.
That sum far exceeds that paid by any other distributor with local operations.
Synnex, which topped the list for total income with $1.6 billion for the year, made a taxable income of just $3.5 million – and paid $1.5 million in tax.
Ingram Micro, despite having income of $1.4 billion, failed to make a profit, so paid no tax.
Avnet clocked in at $572.0 million in total income, of which $4.1 million was taxable income, leading to a tax bill of $1.2 million.
Westcon Group, with $347.5 million in total income, paid $1.5 million on a taxable income of $5.0 million.
The ATO published the tax details of 1500 large corporate tax payers – all with income in excess of $100 million – as part of a push for improved corporate transparency.
Chris Jordan, Commissioner of Taxation, says the release of the details 'informs public debate about tax policy, particularly in relation to the corporate tax system'.
"The transparency measure gives the community the opportunity to see some corporate tax data that the ATO holds," Jordan says.
"Community trust and confidence in the way these large companies operate matters. And, tax should matter to these companies. It is not something to be taken lightly," he adds.
Collectively, the 1500 companies paid almost $40 billion in company tax in the 2014 fiscal year.
Jordan notes that no tax paid 'does not necessarily mean tax avoidance'.
"Any companies with unusual financial or taxation numbers are closely investigated by the ATO. Over half of these 1500 companies have been subject to ATO review or audit over the past three years, with the ATO's risk and intelligence systems working all the time to ensure that we can all have confidence in the tax system.
Jordan says publishing the data is a step forward in improving corporate tax transparency and large corporates now have to consider the impact of their tax information as a factor in managing their reputation with the markets, their shareholders, their consumers and in the Australian community.
