CORPORATIONS – TAXATION – AUSTRALIA

Morrison vows strong changes to tax system

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Original article by Primrose Riordan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 22-Jan-16

The GST and superannuation tax concessions may be the Australian Government’s tax reform agenda, while Treasurer Scott Morrison has indicated that the corporate tax rate may also be under scrutiny. Meanwhile, Morrison says recent financial market volatility is likely to influence the timing of the 2016 federal election, and will most likely rule out an early poll. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has warned that increasing the GST in the wake of the sharemarket rout would hurt consumer confidence.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Murdoch’s media pay least tax

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Original article by Neil Chenoweth
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 6-Jan-16

Data from the Australian Taxation Office shows that 10 media companies paid no income tax in Australia in 2014. Eight of these companies are either owned or partly-owned by members of the Murdoch family. These include Ten Network, Nova Entertainment and two companies owned by News Corporation. Nine Entertainment Company and BBC Worldwide Australia Holdings also paid no tax in 2014, while Fairfax Media’s total tax bill for the year was $A16m.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NOVA ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, BBC WORLDWIDE AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, NEWS AUSTRALIA INVESTMENTS PTY LTD, NEWS PAY TV FINANCING PTY LTD, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, FOXTEL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, XYZNETWORKS PTY LTD, FOX FILMED ENTERTAINMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SHINE AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Good, bad, ugly: ATO reveals all

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Original article by Neil Chenoweth, Primrose Riordan, Edmund Tadros, Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 18-Dec-15

Some 579 of the 1,539 public companies whose tax details were released on 17 December 2015 did not pay any tax in Australia in fiscal 2014. The Australian Taxation Office figures cover 554 companies based in Australia and 985 foreign-owned companies, and show that Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, Acer and Citrix Systems are among the companies that paid no tax. BHP Billiton had the highest corporate tax bill, at $A4.1bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, HEWLETT-PACKARD AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TOSHIBA (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, ACER INCORPORATED, CITRIX SYSTEMS INCORPORATED, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, APPLE INCORPORATED, MICROSOFT CORPORATION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, CAPGEMINI AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NOKIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ALCATEL-LUCENT AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, MITSUI AND COMPANY LIMITED, ITOCHU CORPORATION, NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION, SUMITOMO CORPORATION, ESSO AUSTRALIA RESOURCES LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Top corporations paid zero tax

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Original article by Nassim Khadem
The Age – Page: 10 : 17-Dec-15

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will release the tax details of 1,539 companies on 17 December 2015. The document will show that 38 per cent of the companies did not pay any tax in 2013-14. ATO Acting Second Commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn said that these companies were not necessarily engaged in tax avoidance.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Rio’s Walsh wants Australia to aim for Asia’s tax rate

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 3-Dec-15

Rio Tinto CEO Sam Walsh says reducing Australia’s company tax rate is the best way to encourage investment and new business start-ups. He notes that the average corporate tax rate in Asia is around 21 per cent, and suggests that Australia should seek to reduce its company tax rate to a similar level.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20)

BHP falls erase China boom gains

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Original article by Amanda Saunders, Matthew Stevens, Neil Chenoweth, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 12 : 13-Nov-15

Shares in BHP Billiton shed 1.6 per cent to close at $A20.60 on 12 November 2015, which is the stock’s lowest level in almost 10 years. The recent rout means BHP stock is trading at around the same level it was at prior to the start of the China-driven commodities boom. Meanwhile, the Queensland Government has demanded unpaid royalties of $A288m arising from the use of Singapore as a marketing hub, while BHP also faces massive costs associated with the tailings dam disaster at its joint venture Samarco iron ore project in Brazil.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SAMARCO MINERACAO SA, VALE SA, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, BM ALLIANCE COAL OPERATIONS PTY LTD, MITSUBISHI CORPORATION, BHP BILLITON MARKETING AG, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, PENGANA CAPITAL LIMITED

BCA says cut taxes for business first

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 6-Nov-15

Business Council of Australia president Catherine Livingstone argues that a lower corporate tax rate should be at the top of the Federal Government’s tax reform agenda. She notes that reducing the corporate tax burden has been proven to be most effective at boosting innovation and economic growth in other countries. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has stressed that tax reforms will not gain widespread public support unless they are seen to be fair.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED

Morrison: GST hike could ease worker tax burden

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 5 : 30-Sep-15

Treasurer Scott Morrison has indicated that the Australian Government will ensure that there is no overall increase in the tax burden. He has told Sky News that income tax cuts would be implemented to offset any increase in other taxes, such as the GST. The corporate tax rate and superannuation tax breaks are also likely to be on the agenda when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and key government ministers meet with business, union and community organisation leaders on 1 October 2015.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, SKY NEWS, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE, COUNCIL ON THE AGEING, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

BHP warns tax changes could result in double whammy

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 & 26 : 24-Sep-15

BHP Billiton has advised that its global tax bill for 2014-15 was $US7.3bn, with taxes and royalties in Australia accounting for $US5.2bn ($A7.3bn) of this total. CFO Peter Beaven says the resources group believes that the amount of tax it pays is "very fair", and said nearly all of its profits earned in Australia are subject to taxation in Australia. Beaven adds that while there is need for a debate on tax reform, he cautioned that unilateral tax reform could potentially lead to companies being taxed twice.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Company tax cut – at a price

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: S1 & S2 : 23-Sep-15

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says the Federal Opposition is open to reducing the corporate tax rate to 25 per cent. However, he has told the AFR Tax Reform Summit that this should not be funded via an increase in the GST. ACTU president Ged Kearney told the summit that any reduction in the corporate tax rate should not result in lower tax revenue, but stressed that this does not necessarily mean that the GST should be increased. Economist Saul Eslake proposed cutting some income tax breaks to finance a reduction in the corporate tax rate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. COMMONWEALTH GRANTS COMMISSION, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT