5506.0 - Taxation Revenue, Australia, 2000-01  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 12/04/2002   
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  • Explanatory Notes

INTRODUCTION

1 This publication contains statistics of revenue collected by all levels of government in Australia in the form of taxes for 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

2 GFS taxation statistics are presented on an accrual accounting basis. Due to changes associated with the introduction of accrual accounting, data for 1998-99 and subsequent years have been compiled on a different methodological basis to that of previous years which were compiled using a cash accounting methodology. Consequently, data for 1998-99 and following years are not directly comparable with the data for 1997-98 and earlier periods.


CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS

3 To assist users in understanding some aspects of the statistics presented in this and related publications, the ABS released an Information Paper Information Paper: Accruals-based Government Finance Statistics (Cat.no.5517.0) on 13 March 2000. Users analysing previous cash based GFS publications should refer to Government Finance Statistics - Concepts, Sources and Methods (Cat.no.5514.0) which relates to the cash based GFS. An accrual GFS version of this manual is expected to be available on the ABS web site later this year.

4 The Information Paper outlines the major GFS concepts and two of the transaction classifications used in the compilation and presentation of the statistics in this publication:

  • Economic Type Framework for GFS, which is used to:
  • categorise expenses, revenues, cash flows, assets and liabilities according to their economic character to facilitate study of the macro-economic effect of government activity on the economy; and
  • provide the basic building blocks for grouping transactions which need to be incorporated into the Australian System of National Accounts (ASNA).
  • Taxes Classification, which dissects this major form of government revenue according to type of tax collected.


TAXES CLASSIFICATION

5 A tax is a compulsory levy imposed by the government, mainly to raise revenue. There is usually no clear and direct link between payment of taxes and the provision of particular goods and services by government. Taxes are levied, inter alia, on income, wealth, production, sale and use of goods and services and the performance of activities.

6 Governments may regulate certain activities by issuing licences for which fees are payable. If the issue of such licences involves little or no work by the government then the revenue raised is deemed to be taxation revenue. However, if the government uses the issue of licences to exercise some proper regulatory function, such as checking the competency or qualifications of a would-be licensee, then the revenue raised is deemed not to be taxation revenue, but revenue from the sale of services by government unless it is clearly out of all proportion to the costs of providing the services.

7 Taxes that are levied on a regular or periodic basis are deemed to be current taxes. Taxes that are levied infrequently and at irregular intervals or under exceptional circumstances are deemed to be capital taxes.

8 The Taxes Classification is used to classify by detailed type all transactions in governments’ operating statements which are classified to the following economic type framework categories:
  • taxes on income;
  • other current taxes;
  • taxes on products;
  • other taxes on production; and
  • capital taxes.

9 The Taxes Classification has been developed to present, in a systematic way and in sufficient detail for international reporting, the relationships that exist between taxes in terms of taxation criteria adopted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The first five groups of the Taxes Classification, which represent the broad bases on which taxes are levied in Australia, are:
  • taxes on income;
  • employers’ payroll taxes;
  • taxes on property;
  • taxes on provision of goods and services; and
  • taxes on use of goods and performance of activities.

10 These tax groups are divided into seventeen subgroups according to type of entities, property, activities, goods or services being taxed. The subgroups, which are further subdivided into sixty classes, generally describe the specific type of tax actually collected in Australia.


OTHER AGGREGATES USED IN THIS PUBLICATION

11 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is defined as the total market value of goods and services produced in Australia within a given period after deducting the cost of goods used up in the process of production, but before deducting allowances for the consumption of fixed capital (depreciation).


INTERSTATE COMPARISONS

12 As well as showing the variety of types of taxes levied in Australia, the tables in this publication have been designed to show the relative importance of the tax system of the Commonwealth, State and local levels of government. They have also been designed to show the extent and composition of taxation levied by each State Government (including its subsidiary authorities). In this latter connection, it should be noted that interstate comparison of tax collections by State or local governments separately can be misleading unless account is taken of State to State variations in the range of activities for which these two levels of government are responsible. In the Australian Capital Territory, for example, only a State level of government currently exists and a number of functions performed by it are undertaken by local government authorities elsewhere.


REVISIONS

13 GFS are revised progressively as new or improved data become available. For this reason differences can occur between equivalent aggregates published at different times.


ABS DATA AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

14 Generally, a charge is made for providing data available on request. This information may be made available in one or more of the following forms: photocopy; computer printout; floppy disk; CD-ROM; and clerically-extracted tabulation. Inquiries should be made to the officer whose name appears in the Inquiries section of this publication, or to the ABS National Information Service.


RELATED PUBLICATIONS

15 Users may wish to refer to the following products which contain related information:

Australian National Accounts: Financial Accounts (Cat.no.5232.0) - issued quarterly

Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product (Cat.no.5206.0) - issued quarterly

Australian System of National Accounts (Cat.no.5204.0) - issued annually

Government Finance Statistics, Australia (Cat.no.5512.0) - issued annually

Government Finance Statistics - Concepts, Sources and Methods (Cat.no.5514.0) - issued January 1995

Government Financial Estimates, Australia (Cat.no.5501.0) - issued annually

Household Expenditure Survey, Australia: The Effects of Government Benefits and Taxes on Household Income (Cat.no.6537.0) - latest edition 1993-94, issued May 1996

Information Paper: Accruals-based Government Finance Statistics (Cat.no.5517.0) - issued March 2000

Information Paper: Developments in Government Finance Statistics (Cat.no.5516.0) - issued February 1997

Statistical Concepts Library (Cat.no.1361.0.30.001) - issued annually on CD-ROM