Here’s a jaw-dropping revelation: a call center operator that bagged a massive government contract worth tens of millions of dollars managed to pay zero corporate tax for two consecutive years. But here’s where it gets controversial—despite raking in over $185 million in revenue during 2024-25, Telco Services Australia reported no taxable income, according to newly surfaced financial documents. And this isn’t a one-off; the year prior, they reported $130 million in income and still paid no tax. This tax-free windfall coincides with their lucrative multi-year contract to manage call center operations for Services Australia, the agency overseeing social security.
Jason Ward, a leading analyst at the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research, suggests the company’s structure may have been deliberately designed to sidestep tax obligations in Australia. And this is the part most people miss—while Telco Services itself paid no tax, the company insists that ‘associated entities’ did pay the appropriate amount. But who are these entities, and why isn’t their financial data publicly available? The lack of transparency raises eyebrows, especially when the company’s financial documents reveal $166.5 million in related party transactions last year, with no details on who these parties are.
These transactions, Ward explains, effectively wiped out the company’s profits, leaving nothing to tax. Meanwhile, payments to directors and key management personnel increased during the same period, even as the company reported a financial loss. While there’s no evidence of illegal activity, the situation begs the question: Is this ethical, and should taxpayers be footing the bill for such opaque financial practices?
Telco Services is part of the larger TSA Group, a Perth-based entity with over 4,300 employees across five contact centers in Australia and the Philippines. Beyond their government contract, they handle outsourcing for corporate giants like Telstra and NRMA Insurance. A TSA spokesperson defended their tax arrangements, claiming they’ve been vetted by an independent auditor. But critics argue that the group’s complex structure makes it nearly impossible to verify how much tax they’ve actually paid or how funds flow between its various entities.
Here’s another twist—while Telco Services paid no tax, its sister company, Telco Sales, paid just over $700,000 in corporate tax in 2022-23, only to receive a partial refund the following year. And despite generating over $120 million in revenue across two tax years, the refund seems oddly convenient. Adding to the complexity, the staff working under the Services Australia contract are technically employed by a separate entity, Trimatic Management Services, which received a $5 million grant from the Western Australian government in 2024 to expand call center jobs.
Services Australia insists its workforce is primarily composed of permanent public servants, supplemented by contractors. Yet, the agency’s reliance on outsourced operators like Telco Services and Concentrix has sparked concerns about service quality. Tax agents have complained to the ombudsman about inexperienced call center staff providing inadequate responses, raising questions about the value taxpayers are getting from these contracts.
Now, here’s the bigger question—is this a systemic issue, or just a one-off case of clever accounting? As government agencies increasingly lean on outsourced call centers, should there be stricter transparency requirements for companies bidding on public contracts? And what does this mean for taxpayers, who ultimately fund these contracts? Let’s open the floor for discussion—do you think this is fair, or is it time for a closer look at how these deals are structured? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
