<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/22/csl-optus-executive-payments-millions-no-company-tax-australia>
"Some of the nation’s biggest companies – including biotechnology giant CSL,
telco Optus and oil and gas producer Santos – regularly spend more on bonuses
for their chief executives than they pay in company tax in Australia, new
analysis shows.
The finding, described as “a bit rich” by a tax expert, rubs against an
ordinary understanding of bonuses, which would typically rise when an executive
helps drive a company’s performance. This in turn would lead to a bigger take
from the Australian Taxation Office.
CSL, a former commonwealth entity listed on the stock exchange in the 1990s,
paid Australian corporate tax just once in the past five reporting periods –
amounting to about $65m – according to ATO data.
During the same period, it paid $US74.3m ($114.2m), mainly consisting of
bonuses, to the two chief executives running the company over that time,
according to the
Guardian Australia’s analysis.
The mismatch is also evident over longer time periods, with the
Melbourne-headquartered company paying corporate tax on just three occasions
over the past decade, during a prolonged period of high executive pay rates.
Jason Ward, a principal analyst at the Centre for International Corporate Tax
Accountability and Research, said while CSL is often celebrated as an
Australian biotech success, its contribution to the public purse was modest.
“It’s a bit rich for the executives to get so much money when the company,
which was initially a public enterprise … [doesn’t] contribute tax revenue from
its profits back to its home country,” Ward said."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
