Australia’s GST collections plunge in February

- Sydney (29 March)

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) collected A$11.6 billion in GST payments over February, down 13% on the year, reflecting a potential decline in demand, data released by Australia’s Department of Finance on 27 March show.

ATO’s GST collections fell by 6.8% on the year in January (see table) after growing or remaining flat each month since August 2025, data show. The agency’s February collections last declined on the year in 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Businesses with an annual turnover of over A$20 million need to make monthly GST payments to the ATO. Smaller firms earning at least A$75,000 can opt to pay their GST bill on a quarterly or annual basis, leading to consistently higher collections in the second month of each quarter.

ATO’s GST collections fell in February alongside consumer confidence. The ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence Index averaged 77.8 in February – indicating a net negative sentiment – down from 87.5 a year earlier. The index fell to its lowest recorded level of 63.1 over 16-22 March, ANZ said on 24 March.

Consumer confidence and GST collections fell in February despite the Reserve Bank of Australia citing strong private demand as a driver of its decision to lift Australia’s overnight cash rate from 3.6% to 3.85% on 2 February.

“[The Monetary Policy] Board generally feels that at the margin, maybe conditions were just a little bit loose, particularly given what we’re seeing in the recovery of private demand,” Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock said at the time.

The central bank raised Australia’s overnight cash rate to 4.1% on 17 March 2026, largely because of elevated growth in July-December 2025 and more recent labour market tightening.

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By Avinash Govind