INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ENTERPRISES – TAXATION – AUSTRALIA

Treasury may go alone on ‘Google tax’

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 10-Apr-15

The Australian Government would like to introduce changes to the taxation system as soon as possible. Treasury deputy secretary Robert Heferen told the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance on 9 April 2015 that the Government should act now rather than wait for the OECD’s action plan on base erosion and profit shifting. The implementation of the OECD plan would be very complicated

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

Google tax to hit profit shifting

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Laura Tingle
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 5 : 1-Apr-15

The Australian Government’s May 2015 Budget will include tax measures aimed at addressing the problem of profit-shifting by multinational corporations. The so-called "Google tax" will be modelled on the UK’s Diverted Profits Tax. The Australian Labor Party recently unveiled measures intended to combat profit-shifting. The Budget will also include a levy on bank deposits, while the small business sector will receive a tax cut

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, THE GROUP OF EIGHT LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Apple revenue drops during ATO talks

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Original article by Neil Chenoweth, Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 28-Jan-15

Global technology firm Apple is one of eight such businesses accused of using overseas tax havens to engage in base erosion and profit shifting, substantially reducing its tax liabilities in Australia. A Singaporean holding company received $A2bn worth of the profits from Australia in 2014, before passing them on to an entity registered in Ireland. Sales were down 1% at $A5.86bn, but Apple paid a mere $A80.4m in local tax that at least was higher than the $A36.4m for 2013. Its practices are also attracting scrutiny by the European Commission

CORPORATES
APPLE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Crackdown on tax could backfire

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Original article by Ben Potter, Joanna Heath
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1-Dec : 7-Nov-14

The Group of 20 (G20) will soon discuss the global anti-tax avoidance proposals of the OECD. Australia and the US have become cautious about the plans. There are concerns among business figures and some governments that the OECD’s efforts against base erosion and profit shifting by multinationals could have unforeseen effects. For instance Richard Goyder, head of Wesfarmers, warns that measures to curb tax avoidance by multinationals could unintentionally weigh heavily on Australian tax revenue from mining exports to Asia

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, AMAZON WEB SERVICES LLC, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, APPLE INCORPORATED, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, BUSINESS 20 (B20), AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, GOODMAN GROUP – ASX GMG

PwC chairman punches hole in G20 tax agenda

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Original article by Agnes King
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 16-Jul-14

It is futile for Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to pursue the policy of preventing multinational corporations from shifting profits between tax jurisdictions. Dennis Nally, global chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, says resistance to a global tax treaty, in the US in particular, is strong enough to defeat the OECD proposal. Governments have different tax and economic policies and it is impossible to harmonise them

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS

Turnbull urged to take his $1m out of ‘vulture fund’

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Original article by Heath Aston
The Age – Page: 4 : 4-Jul-14

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey are leading a push to crack down on tax minimisation by multinational corporations via profit shifting. However the stance in the lead-up to the Group of 20 (G20) leaders’ summit in Brisbane in November 2014 appears to have been undermined by revelations that Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has an investment worth about $A1m in the Bowery Opportunity Fund. The entity, a "vulture fund" acquiring distressed businesses, is registered in the Cayman Islands tax haven. Turnbull’s stake is not in breach of any laws, but at odds with the G20 agenda, critics say

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), CVC GLOBAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY FUND LIMITED, BOWERY OPPORTUNITY FUND LP, BOWERY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LLC, UNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA, TAX JUSTICE NETWORK, GLENCORE XSTRATA PLC