Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Paterson for that very important question. This morning I released the Australian government Monthly Financial Statements for the 2017-18 financial year to the end of May 2018. They show that revenue from company tax this financial year has increased by another $1.1 billion since the most recent budget was released only last month. This means that, since the Senate passed the first three years of our Ten Year Enterprise Tax Plan, revenue from company tax, just for this financial year, has increased by $9.2 billion—that's right. So, at the 2016-17 half-yearly budget update, which was the first one after the 2016 election and the last one before the Senate passed the first three years of our Ten Year Enterprise Tax Plan, the expectation was that businesses would pay $78.6 billion in company tax revenue in 2017-18. Based on the official numbers, on actual revenue collections to the end of May 2018, one month out from the end of the 2017-18 financial year we are now expecting company tax revenue to come in at $87.8 billion. That's right: $9.2 billion more than estimated at the 2016-17 MYEFO. And of course to the end of May 2018, these are actual numbers—actual numbers.

This demonstrates that the government's plan for a stronger economy, for more jobs and to repair the budget is working. The reason we're collecting more revenue is stronger growth, higher than assumed commodity prices and strong multinational anti-avoidance measures and tax enforcement action. Not only do lower taxes help Australian businesses to employ more workers but also more-profitable businesses pay more tax, which helps Australian families to get ahead and helps the government to fund the important and essential services that Australians expect their government to provide.