Tax payments as a share of the economy have hit a 16-year high and could surpass the former Coalition government’s tax cap, after record mining and energy profits and a boom in jobs delivered a multibillion-dollar windfall to the federal budget.

Federal tax collections are estimated by budget economist Chris Richardson to be about 24 per cent of gross domestic product for the recently completed 2021-22 financial year, around the Morrison government’s pledged 23.9 per cent limit.