The natural resources sector paid more taxes than all other sectors combined, as increased corporate payments helped generate a national budget surplus.

Transparency data from the Australian Taxation Office released on Friday shows large businesses paid $98 billion to the federal government for the 2023 financial year.

This represents an increase of 17 per cent and played a huge role as the Commonwealth posted a surplus for the first time in 15 years.

ATO Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Saint said it was a “great outcome for the Australian community”.

Payments from oil and gas have been particularly strong amid higher prices, projects entering their production lives and ATO intervention, Ms Saint said.

“(FY2023) is the second year in a row that the mining sector pays more in taxes than all other sectors combined, paying more than five times that in 2014-15,” she said.

It comes as the industry has been attacked by some commentators for not paying enough tax.

Iron ore miners top the list, with Rio Tinto ($5.8 billion) and BHP ($5.4 billion) the biggest contributors.

Larger companies have complex structures and also pay through subsidiaries – one example is BHP’s Jimblebar iron ore business, which paid an extra $1.6 billion.

The figures also do not include royalties and taxes paid to state governments.

Western Australia’s oil and gas investment boom has sent a wave of cash to Canberra, as have court proceedings by the ATO to crack down on aggressive tax structures.

Chevron placed fourth with a bill of $4.3 billion and its chief executive, Mark Hatfield, said the company would contribute “for many decades to come.”

The US-based company built the Wheatstone and Gorgon LNG plants in the Pilbara with partners.

“Chevron Australia has established itself as one of the country’s largest corporate taxpayers after investing more than $80 billion with our joint venture partners in the development of the Gorgon and Wheatstone natural gas facilities in Western Australia,” he said. Mr. Hatfield said.

“Our A$4.2 billion corporate income tax payment for 2022 highlights the strong profits we achieved that year from the high reliability and production achievements of our facilities, combined under market conditions.

Woodside Energy paid $2.7 billion in corporate taxes directly.

Chief executive Meg O’Neill said the company was a “significant contributor to Australia’s wealth and prosperity”.

“When Woodside performs, Australia benefits, a fact clearly reflected by the more than A$21 billion in Australian taxes, fees and levies we have paid since 2011.

“On our 70th anniversary, we remain more committed than ever to tax transparency, paying our share and meeting our obligations to government. »

About a third of businesses paid no taxes. But this can reflect a variety of factors, including financial losses, investment deductions or trust structures that pay through the personal tax system.

“While there are legitimate reasons for a business not to pay income tax, the Australian community can be assured that we are paying special attention to those who do not pay income tax in order to ensure they are not trying to cheat the system,” Ms Saint said.