Each year, the ledger of global commerce reveals a quiet asymmetry: vast revenues flow through a nation's economy while the tax receipts that might fund its schools, hospitals, and infrastructure remain conspicuously thin. Australia's tax office has published its latest transparency data, showing that corporations including Microsoft, Netflix, and Singtel generated billions in local revenue while paying little or nothing in corporate tax — a pattern repeated across more than a quarter of large companies operating in the country. The mechanisms are largely legal, rooted in the architecture of g
Microsoft, Netflix among tech giants paying zero tax on billions in Australian revenue
More than one-quarter of large companies regularly pay no or minimal tax
Mark
So Microsoft's datacentre business made $2.3 billion in Australia and paid zero tax. How is that even possible?
Mimi
The ATO says there can be legitimate reasons—losses, deductions, offsets. But the real mechanism is often profit shifting. You earn money in Australia, then you pay fees or royalties to a related company in a lower-tax country, which shrinks your Australian taxable income.
Luke
Right, but we should be careful here. The ATO database doesn't actually tell us which companies are doing profit shifting and which ones genuinely made a loss or used legitimate deductions. We're inferring the mechanism from the pattern.
Mark
So we don't actually know if Microsoft is breaking the law?
Mimi
No. The ATO says it's scrutinizing these cases, especially in datacentres. But the point is that the law allows this. It's legal tax planning.
Luke
And Microsoft was contacted for comment but hasn't responded yet, at least not in this reporting. So we have their numbers but not their explanation.
Mark
What about Singtel? It used to pay tax, then it stopped. That seems like a deliberate shift.
Mimi
Optus said it was due to infrastructure investments and operating expenses. Those are real costs. But the timing—right around 2020—suggests a strategic restructuring.
Luke
Again, we're told what Optus claims, but we don't have independent verification of whether those expenses are proportional to the revenue or if there's something else going on.
Mark
Is the government actually going to do anything about this?
Mimi
They're trying. New ATO rulings on profit shifting, new media bargaining laws with levies on tech platforms. But the ATO itself says these rulings will face legal challenges.
Luke
Which means we could be years away from knowing if any of this actually changes the tax take. The story right now is the gap between what these companies earn and what they pay. Whether that gap closes is still an open question.
The Pulse
- Microsoft's Australian datacentre arm pulled in $2.3 billion in revenue and reported zero taxable income, while companies like Singtel, JBS, and Sony collectively earned tens of billions without contributing a dollar in corporate tax.
- The practice of profit shifting — routing income through related entities in lower-tax jurisdictions — has become so normalized among multinationals that more than one in four large Australian companies regularly pay no or minimal tax.
- The ATO's transparency database names the figures but cannot explain them, leaving a public gap between what is visible and what is understood, and between what is legal and what is equitable.
- Australia's tax authority is now scrutinizing digital businesses and supply chains with new intensity, with an anti-profit-shifting ruling in development that is expected to recover significant revenue from tech companies — though legal battles loom.
- Parliament has also passed revamped media bargaining laws targeting global platforms, signaling a broader political reckoning with whether the current tax framework is fit for an economy increasingly shaped by digital multinationals.
Each year, the ledger of global commerce reveals a quiet asymmetry: vast revenues flow through a nation's economy while the tax receipts that might fund its schools, hospitals, and infrastructure remain conspicuously thin. Australia's tax office has published its latest transparency data, showing that corporations including Microsoft, Netflix, and Singtel generated billions in local revenue while paying little or nothing in corporate tax — a pattern repeated across more than a quarter of large companies operating in the country. The mechanisms are largely legal, rooted in the architecture of global profit shifting, yet regulators are signaling that the era of passive observation may be drawing to a close.
Australia's tax office has released its annual transparency data, and the pattern it reveals is one that has become familiar to governments around the world. Some of the largest corporations operating in the country — Microsoft, Netflix, Singtel, JBS, Sony, and others — generated billions in Australian revenue during 2024-25 while paying little or nothing in corporate tax. Microsoft's datacentre division earned $2.3 billion and reported zero taxable income. Singtel, the parent of Optus, recorded more than $8.3 billion in total income without a tax bill. Netflix paid $8.4 million on $1.4 billion in revenue. More than a quarter of large companies in Australia, many of them foreign-owned, regularly pay no or minimal corporate tax.
The ATO is legally required to publish this data for any entity earning at least $100 million in Australian income, but the database does not explain individual outcomes. The agency acknowledges that legitimate reasons can exist — operating losses, legal deductions, capital offsets — but the figures raise persistent questions about profit shifting, the widespread practice of moving income to related entities in lower-taxing jurisdictions. Singtel's trajectory is telling: before 2020, the company paid tax in Australia regularly; now it does not, a shift its Optus subsidiary attributes to infrastructure investment and operating costs.
The ATO's acting deputy commissioner has made clear that the agency is watching closely, particularly in sectors like datacentres where revenue is large and tax contributions are small. New anti-profit-shifting rulings are in development and expected to recover meaningful sums from technology companies, though legal challenges are anticipated. Parliament has also passed updated media bargaining laws that would levy global tech platforms failing to negotiate with Australian news outlets. Together, these moves suggest a government increasingly unwilling to accept a system in which economic activity and tax contribution remain so visibly misaligned.
The Australian Taxation Office released its transparency database for 2024-25, and the numbers tell a story that has become familiar to tax authorities worldwide: some of the world's largest corporations are generating billions of dollars in Australian revenue while paying little to nothing in corporate tax.
Microsoft's datacentre business pulled in $2.3 billion in revenue from Australia during the financial year but reported zero taxable income. Netflix's local operation generated more than $1.4 billion in revenue and paid $8.4 million in tax. Singtel, the parent company of Optus, earned more than $8.3 billion in total income without paying any tax at all. These are not isolated cases. The ATO database shows that more than one-quarter of large companies operating in Australia—often foreign-owned entities—regularly pay no or minimal corporate tax.
The list extends across industries and continents. JBS Global Meat Holdings, a Brazilian-owned company, generated $4.8 billion in revenue and paid zero tax, continuing a pattern that has repeated across multiple years. Fonterra, the New Zealand dairy giant, earned $2.4 billion without paying tax. Sony Australia recorded $1.6 billion in revenue with no tax bill. The online retailer Kogan brought in $642 million and paid nothing. TikTok Australia paid $17.3 million on $686.6 million in revenue. Microsoft's computer and software business, by contrast, paid $160.6 million in tax after generating $9.2 billion in revenue—a notably different outcome from its datacentre division.
The ATO is required by parliament to publish tax information for all entities generating at least $100 million in Australian income, which is why these figures are now public. But the transparency database does not explain why individual companies paid zero tax. The agency notes there can be legitimate reasons: a company might be operating at a loss, or it might be using legal deductions and offsets to reduce its taxable income. What the ATO does not say explicitly in the database is how many of these cases involve profit shifting—the practice of moving income to related entities in lower-taxing jurisdictions, a strategy that has become standard among multinational corporations.
Michelle Sams, the ATO's acting deputy commissioner, signaled that the agency is paying closer attention. "We look very closely if there's no tax being paid in significant industries, including things like datacentres, to make sure that the level of tax being paid reflects the economic activity that's happening in Australia," she said. The ATO is increasingly focused on digital businesses and supply chains, she added, to ensure they are meeting their tax obligations.
Singtel's case illustrates how quickly the picture can change. Before 2020, the company was a regular taxpayer in Australia. Now it regularly reports zero taxable income. An Optus spokesperson has previously attributed this shift to infrastructure investments and operating expenses—legitimate business costs that reduce taxable profit.
The Australian government is moving on multiple fronts to address the issue. The ATO has an anti-profit-shifting ruling in the works that is expected to recover significant sums from technology companies, though legal challenges are anticipated. Parliament also passed revamped media bargaining laws in August that will allow levies on global tech platforms that fail to negotiate deals with Australian news outlets over the use of their journalism. These measures suggest a recognition that the current system is not capturing tax revenue proportional to the economic activity these companies conduct in Australia.
Notable Quotes
We look very closely if there's no tax being paid in significant industries, including things like datacentres, to make sure that the level of tax being paid reflects the economic activity that's happening in Australia.— Michelle Sams, ATO acting deputy commissioner
Optus attributed its zero tax position to infrastructure investments and operating expenses.— Optus spokesperson
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