Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Paterson for that question. I am pleased to advise the Senate that hardworking Australians are embracing our lower income taxes agenda with gusto. They are embracing, of course, the opportunity that it brings in terms of strengthening the economy moving forward, creating more jobs. Indeed, I can advise the Senate that the number of tax returns already submitted to the Australian Taxation Office is exceeding those which have been submitted in previous years very strongly.

As of this morning, the tax office has received over 2.9 million lodgements, which is a 19 per cent increase, or more than 460,000 more lodgements, than this time last year. Already, more than 1.3 million individual taxpayers have received their income tax refunds, with the ATO having processed over 1.3 million individual 2019 income tax refunds, with a total value of $3.1 billion.