Westpac Internet -Taxation - paying our dues

Taxation - paying our dues

How much tax an organisation pays - and why - is a legitimate question. Our goal is to ensure that taxation is managed both as an expense and a resource for the maximum benefit of our shareholders, whilst at the same time complying with taxation laws and Group Taxation policy; in short - to pay the correct amount of tax.

In 2006 we joined the PricewaterhouseCoopers Total Tax Contribution project, a UK initiative which has developed a framework for more comprehensive disclosure of tax reporting. Our tax people have worked with PWC to test and refine the framework for the Australian tax environment - with more than 50 local taxes - and we now report against this framework.

Total tax contributions

Taxes paid Values ($m)

PAYG Corporate Tax - Expense¹ 1,224

GST - Expense² 135

FBT - Expense³ 18

Staff Superannuation - Expense⁴ 108

Payroll - Tax⁵ 96

Taxes collected Values ($m)

Queensland Credit Duty⁶ 1

ABN, Non-Res, TFN WHT⁷ 82

GST Collected⁸ 362

Other taxes we pay but not identified Values ($m)

Fire Service Levies⁹

Stamp duties - as an expense and collected¹⁰

Local government rates and taxes - expense¹¹

Employees woring solely on tax¹² FTE

Australia 39

NZ 5

1. This represents the corporate tax instalments paid between 1 October 2005 and 30 Sept 2006 for the Australian Tax Consolidated Group and does not take into account any prior year adjustments.

2. This is the approximate GST cost to the GST Group for the year ended 30 Sept 2006 ie GST paid on acquisitions, net of GST input tax credits. In order not to distort the numbers, it does not include any one-off adjustments for prior years and it represents only the GST Group. There are other entities outside the GST Group that are not captured as part of this number, however those numbers are relatively minor.

3. This figure is for the FBT year from 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006.

4. This is the approximate cost of superannuation for the Westpac Group for the year to 30 Sept 2006.

5. This figure is for the Payroll Tax year 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006 and includes all States and Territories.

6. Queensland Credit Duty has now been abolished. This figure is for the year ending 30 Sept 2006.

7. Westpac also acts as a fund manager, responsible entity and nominee for a large number of investments and entities, and in this position Westpac is required to calculate and collect withholdings taxes. These figures do not include amounts collected in that capacity.

8. This is the total of the GST collected and paid to the ATO between 1 Oct 2005 and 30 Sept 2006.

9. These are incurred by the Westpac group, but are not necessarily recorded as separate items and hence cannot easily be reported.

10. Significant amounts are paid and collected, however these are not easily identified as they are often embedded in invoices and existing data does not break down the invoices to that level.

11. These are incurred by the Westpac group in respect of all properties we own, however these are not easily identified in the general ledger.

12. This represents our full-time employees as at 30 Sept 2006 who work solely on tax-related advice and compliance matters. The figure does not include staff who assist tax staff on an ad hoc or part time basis. It also does not include contractors, external advisers, ad hoc project work or those who are responsible for lodging returns.

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Taxes paid	Values ($m)
PAYG Corporate Tax - Expense¹	1,224
GST - Expense²	135
FBT - Expense³	18
Staff Superannuation - Expense⁴	108
Payroll - Tax⁵	96

Taxes collected	Values ($m)
Queensland Credit Duty⁶	1
ABN, Non-Res, TFN WHT⁷	82
GST Collected⁸	362

Other taxes we pay but not identified	Values ($m)
Fire Service Levies⁹
Stamp duties - as an expense and collected¹⁰
Local government rates and taxes - expense¹¹

1.	This represents the corporate tax instalments paid between 1 October 2005 and 30 Sept 2006 for the Australian Tax Consolidated Group and does not take into account any prior year adjustments.
2.	This is the approximate GST cost to the GST Group for the year ended 30 Sept 2006 ie GST paid on acquisitions, net of GST input tax credits. In order not to distort the numbers, it does not include any one-off adjustments for prior years and it represents only the GST Group. There are other entities outside the GST Group that are not captured as part of this number, however those numbers are relatively minor.
3.	This figure is for the FBT year from 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006.
4.	This is the approximate cost of superannuation for the Westpac Group for the year to 30 Sept 2006.
5.	This figure is for the Payroll Tax year 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006 and includes all States and Territories.
6.	Queensland Credit Duty has now been abolished. This figure is for the year ending 30 Sept 2006.
7.	Westpac also acts as a fund manager, responsible entity and nominee for a large number of investments and entities, and in this position Westpac is required to calculate and collect withholdings taxes. These figures do not include amounts collected in that capacity.
8.	This is the total of the GST collected and paid to the ATO between 1 Oct 2005 and 30 Sept 2006.
9.	These are incurred by the Westpac group, but are not necessarily recorded as separate items and hence cannot easily be reported.
10.	Significant amounts are paid and collected, however these are not easily identified as they are often embedded in invoices and existing data does not break down the invoices to that level.
11.	These are incurred by the Westpac group in respect of all properties we own, however these are not easily identified in the general ledger.
12.	This represents our full-time employees as at 30 Sept 2006 who work solely on tax-related advice and compliance matters. The figure does not include staff who assist tax staff on an ad hoc or part time basis. It also does not include contractors, external advisers, ad hoc project work or those who are responsible for lodging returns.