Tax Office benchmarks for small businesses

The small business benchmarks were introduced by the Tax Office to assess the performance of small businesses and to identify businesses that may be avoiding their tax obligations.

The benchmarks are financial ratios developed from information provided by businesses on activity statements and tax returns.

The benchmarks are updated annually using the latest available data across more than 100 industries. The current benchmarks are based on data from the 2012-13 financial year.
Small businesses that are found to be falling outside the benchmarks in their respective industries may attract an audit by the Tax Office.

However, business owners can similarly use the benchmarks published to assess their performance and understand the differences, if any.

For more information on how the Tax Office uses these small business benchmarks to check compliance, click here.

To access the small business benchmarks, click here.