However small to medium businesses have again claimed the vast majority of concessions.

The ACT government's latest tax expenditure statement reveals the territory forfeited more than $264 million in 2017-18 through tax exemptions and concessions, down from $280 million the previous year.

But while pensioners received tax benefits of about $22 million, non-government schools received $25.2 million.

This included $19 million of payroll tax concessions, $5.3 million in general rates concessions and $873,000 on the Fire and Emergency Services Levy.

Pensioners received about $8.9 million in general rates rebates, down from $9.4 million the previous year; $1.2 million on the Fire and Emergency Services Levy rebate; and $9.8 million on motor vehicle registration. Pensioners also claimed $1.7 million under the pensioner duty concession scheme.

The fall in pensioner rates rebates came down to fewer people accessing both the capped and non-capped versions of the scheme.

Pensioners who began claiming rates rebates before 1997 could get 50 per cent of their bill back, regardless of the total cost. Those who began claiming after 1997 could also claim 50 per cent, but only up to $700. That rebate has been frozen since July 2016.

The number of claimants in the uncapped scheme has been cut because of the tightening of the Commonwealth's aged pension assets test from 2017.

However pensioners can access a range of social concessions, which sit outside the tax system. This includes the ACTION bus concession (worth $10.2 million last year) and the utilities concession, which provided water and sewage rebates to nearly 30,000 households in 2017-18.

But the tax breaks provided to pensioners and private schools paled in comparison to those handed to businesses.

Payroll tax concessions have surged to $196.7 million, a $6 million increase on the previous year due to more businesses falling under the tax-free threshold.

The ACT has the highest payroll tax threshold in the country, now only applying to businesses that pay wages of more than $2 million a year Australia-wide.

That means around 26,000 - 90 per cent - of small and medium businesses in Canberra do not pay any payroll tax.

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The threshold lift is part of the ACT's 20-year taxation reform, which is pushing up rates and land tax while cutting stamp duty and other "inefficient" taxes.

However it's not just small businesses that have been given a reprieve on payroll tax.

Charities claimed $20 million worth of payroll tax exemptions in 2017-18, while private hospitals also had $6 million of payroll tax remitted.

Meanwhile stamp duty concessions fell by $21.1 million in 2017-18, mostly due to a fall in the number of people accessing the Loose-fill Asbestos Insulation Eradication Buyback Concession Scheme.

Most of the affected properties have been bought back by the government and the owners have purchased and settled on new properties that were eligible for the concession.

Lease variation charge concessions fell by $2.1 million to $15.5 million, due to a decrease in the number of applications for a remission on the basis of sustainable or adaptable building design.