ABC corrects report on Healthscope tax break estimate

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has issued a correction to an online article that overstated the potential cost to taxpayers of a proposed staff tax arrangement at private health group Healthscope.

The story, published on October 20, reported that the in-receivership hospital operator was urging almost 20,000 employees to claim a tax break worth up to $11,660 a year and then return 90 percent of it to the company — a move the report claimed could cost taxpayers up to $200 million in foregone revenue.

The ABC has since acknowledged that this figure was incorrect. The actual amount of potential revenue foregone is uncertain, and the article has been updated to reflect this.

The original version of the piece presented the $200 million figure as definitive, giving readers the impression that the scheme’s financial impact on the public purse was established fact. In reality, the number was speculative, and its inclusion risked misrepresenting both the scope of the issue and the fiscal implications of Healthscope’s situation.