ABA Says Big Tech Tax Gap Putting Payments at Risk

Why It Matters

The disparity erodes banks’ ability to fund payment infrastructure and creates an uneven playing field, prompting calls for tighter regulation of digital‑payment players.

Key Takeaways

• Banks paid ~US$10.6 bn in taxes vs tech giants' ~US$214 m
• Unregulated BNPL providers charge up to 11× higher fees than banks
• Apple’s Australian tax bill (~US$101 m) is less than a fortnight’s bank taxes
• RBA may cap bank fees while tech firms face minimal regulation

Pulse Analysis

The ABA’s latest research shines a spotlight on a fiscal imbalance that could reshape Australia’s payments landscape. While banks shoulder more than US$10 billion in taxes and levies, the nation’s biggest digital players collectively remit a fraction of that amount. This gap not only raises fairness concerns but also threatens the financial resilience of the payment rails that underpin commerce. Policymakers are now weighing whether the current tax framework adequately reflects the economic weight of multinational tech firms that profit from Australian consumers.

Beyond taxation, fee structures are diverging sharply. Unregulated buy‑now‑pay‑later services are extracting between US$2 and US$5 per $100 transaction, a rate up to eleven times higher than the sub‑US$1 fees charged by traditional banks. Such pricing pressure squeezes small businesses and erodes the competitive advantage banks have traditionally enjoyed. At the same time, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s move to cap bank fees could further compress bank margins, leaving them with fewer resources to maintain and upgrade payment infrastructure.

The broader implication is a call for regulatory parity. If digital giants continue to operate under lighter oversight while enjoying tax advantages, the sustainability of Australia’s payment ecosystem may be compromised. Stakeholders are urging a coordinated response that could include revisiting tax codes, extending licensing requirements to BNPL providers, and ensuring that platform owners like Apple provide open access to digital wallets. Aligning tax and regulatory obligations could restore balance, protect consumer interests, and preserve the robustness of the nation’s payment systems.