New ATO figures show that more than a third of all large public and foreign companies in Australia with an income of $100 million or more paid no tax last year.
The ATO's tax transparency report released on Thursday published the names of the 579 firms which paid no tax.
Among them are Qantas Airways, which earned $14.9 billion, ExxonMobil Australia ($9.617 billion), Virgin Australia ($4.3 billion) and General Motors Australia ($4.138 billion).
Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer said just because some entities haven't paid tax doesn't mean they are avoiding their tax obligations.
"There are some reasons why it would be some companies are not paying tax at all, particularly in circumstances where there might be losses," she said.
The report does not specify the circumstances of each company, but tax is usually paid on profits after paying all expenses including wages, machinery and equipment replacement, supplier costs, fleet costs and other operating expenses.
The report also says the economic impact of the global financial crisis, followed by the worst world recession since WWII, has been costly and long-lasting, with effects still being seen in 2013/14.
Tax commissioner Chris Jordan believed it is a step forward in improving corporate tax transparency.
"Most large corporates, particularly domestic Australian companies, meet their tax obligations, notwithstanding that we do have some significant disputes with some of them," he said in statement.
But Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was not impressed, describing the results as "remarkable", coming at a time when the government in this week's mid-year budget changed the bulk billing arrangements for cancer payments.
"Why is the Turnbull government hard on patients and soft on large companies?" Mr Shorten said.
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand raised concerns about "naming and shaming" the tax arrangements of big business.
The group's tax leader Michael Croker said it appears tax morality concerns have outweighed the privacy principle.
"Name and shame reporting will add to the disclosure costs of those companies which seek to mitigate the reputational damage of ill-informed reporting," he said.
Business Council of Australia boss Jennifer Westacott said the report was an important input to the transparency and integrity of the tax system, but agreed the data should be interpreted carefully.
"Many small and medium sized businesses, in particular, do not make a profit in a given year, and even large businesses go through cycles where profits from large investments take time to be realised," she said.
The Minerals Council of Australia also stepped in before the ATO released its report, releasing a commissioned survey by Deloitte Access Economics that shows the mining sector paid nearly half of every dollar of profit as royalties and company tax in 2013/14.
Top ten Australian companies paying no tax
Firms are listed in descending order, alongside 2013/14 annual
income.
- Qantas Airways, earned 14.9 billion
- GHP 104 160 689 Pty Ltd, earned $11.731 billion
- ExxonMobil Australia, earned $9.617 billion
- Lend Lease Corporation, earned $7.683 billion
- Citic Resources, earned $5.051 billion
- Mitsubishi Development, earned $4.615 billion
- Glencore Investment, earned $4.612 billion
- Hope Downs Marketing, earned $4.445 billion
- Virgin Australia, earned $4.3 billion
- General Motors Australia, earned $4.138 billion
(Source: ATO)
Why some companies don't pay tax
- Taxable income may be $0 depending on impact of "adjustments" such as income not being assessable under tax law, expenses being tax-deductible and tax losses being carried forward.
- Tax payable is reduced by tax offsets such as franking credits for dividends received and credit for foreign taxes paid.
- Special rules apply to calculate tax paid by some companies, such as insurance firms.
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