Budget 2026: In a gas boom, PRRT expected to fall while other tax revenue grows

It's true that some taxes grow and while others fade away. Here's a look at some of the 'smaller taxes' by how much they are expected to grow over the next 4 years. What's striking is that while Australia is in the middle of a gas price boom, the PRRT is still expected to fall by a third.

By Matt Grudnoff

Tue 12 May 2026 21.29 AEST

Economy

Budget 2026: In a gas boom, PRRT expected to fall while other tax revenue grows

Image: AAP/Rebecca Le May

At the recent Senate inquiry into taxing gas, we were confidently told that the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) might not be collecting a lot of revenue now but in a few years, by the end of the decade, it would be racking it in.

Well, the recent federal budget projects revenue for all the different taxes out to the end of the decade, 2029-30. So, what is going to happen to happen to PRRT revenue? Will it shoot up from its really low levels.

Unfortunately not. What’s striking is that while Australia is in the middle of a gas price boom, the PRRT is still expected to fall by a third. As you can see in the chart, in comparison to some other smaller taxes we can see that Treasury is expecting all of those to increase by between 2.4% and 14.8%.

All this while Australia is currently in a gas price boom, the war is ongoing in Ukraine, and then more recently the US and Isreal’s illegal war on Iran have pushed up oil and gas prices.

Ultimately the PRRT is so full of holes that the gas industry will be able to continue to pay a pittance now and into the future.

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