At October 2000 the number of business entities registered with the Australian Business Register (ABR) for an active Australian Business Number (ABN) was 3,199,930.
Of the total number of business entities registered for an ABN, 25% (796,861) were employing entities. Business entities may register with the ABR for reporting of various tax liabilities and roles. Fewer than 8% of employing entities were not active for GST. Of the 2,403,069 non-employing entities registered with the ABR, 42% were not active for GST.
Of employing businesses registered and active for GST, Property and Business Services (129,278) had the greatest numbers, followed by Retail Trade (99,958) and Construction (86,193). Among non-employers registered and active for GST, a large proportion of businesses were in Property and Business Services (274,495), Construction (223,498) and Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (160,958).
The majority of employing business entities registered and active for GST (56%) estimated their annual turnover to range between $100,000 and $1,000,000. Nine percent of these businesses had estimated annual turnover of less than $50,000, while 0.8% (5,905) estimated that their annual turnover would exceed $20 million. Of the non-employing business entities registered and active for GST, 51% of businesses registered and active for GST estimated their annual turnover to range between zero to $100,000.
Of the total number of employing business entities registered and active for GST only 2% stated that they operate from more than one state. More than half, (60%) of these business entities operate from locations in only two states, while 8% operate from locations in all states and territories. Whilst the number of employing multi-state business entities was small, it should be noted that 17% of these businesses reported an estimated annual turnover of $20m or more, compared with less than 0.5% for employing single-state business entities.
MORE INFORMATION
Detailed tables of the information presented above are available from this site in Product Number 1369.0.55.001.
There are also two further special data services available:
Product Number 8136.0.55.001 Single Location Business Entities by Postcode by Industry Division.
Product Number 8138.0.55.001 Single-State Business Entities by Industry Class by State.
For more information on these products please contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.