Corporate regulator ASIC delivered a $1 billion effective profit last financial year, coming largely from small business owners.

The latest Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) annual report shows a record $1.513 billion in “fees and charges” were brought in for the Federal Government in 2020-21. 

For an outfit that required just $437.1 million in government funding, that signifies a $1.078bn windfall. It is believed to be the biggest profit any government has extracted from the regulator since its foundation. 

When it was first set up in 1992, the regulator was only meant to charge limited fees to the public to cover its operating costs.

Instead, ASIC has been used to extract an ever-growing pool of cash from the public via hidden taxes. This has allowed its “revenues” to soar by over 60 per cent in the past four years alone.

ASIC charges small business owners for “annual reviews” that it may not actually perform. Reports say businesses receive only a short statement of their current details, such as their registered address, leading to accusations that it is charging a “fee for no service” of $276 a year (plus an additional $83 fee if the payment is a day late, and a $344 additional fee if the payment is 30 days or more late).

ASIC raises huge amounts of money from charging companies to lodge information in its register, and charging companies and the public to access that “public” data too. This is despite it running a similar service for every company listed on the stock exchange for free.

More details are accessible here.