CANBERRA: Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in October, Facebook Australia has been hit with a AU$31.3 million tax adjustment reaching back to the company’s 2009 financial year.
Disclosed in its earnings filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Facebook paid AU$42.4 million in income tax for its financial year ended December 31, 2017, of which AU$11.6 million was based on the current year, and the remainder an adjustment on its tax obligations between 2009 and 2015. For its 2016 fiscal year, the company paid AU$6.3 million in income tax.
Of its other headline figures, the social network posted a more than AU$150 million boost in revenue, taking its online advertising sales to AU$479 million, compared to AU$326 million a year prior.
Profit before income tax came in at $32.9 million, with the company ending up with a AU$9.6 million loss after the income tax payments were made. For the 2016 year, pre-tax profit was AU$6.3 million, and post-tax profit was $3.3 million.
During the year, Facebook Australia received a AU$50 million equity injection from Facebook Global Holdings, and, thanks to its tax bill, the company now has $11 million in accumulated losses for future periods.
At December 31, the company held AU$26.5 million in cash or cash equivalents, representing an increase of AU$10.7 million.
