TRANSFER PRICING – AUSTRALIA

Energy giants to be grilled over tax minimisation tactic

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Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 26-Apr-17

Executive from major oil and gas producers will appear before the Senate economics reference committee on 28 April 2017. They include executives from Chevron, which recently lost a transfer pricing dispute with the Australian Taxation Office regarding a $A2.5bn inter-company loan. The case centered on the interest rate on the loan made by US-based Chevron to its Australian subsidiary, which is expected to prompt the ATO to issue new guidelines regarding interest rates for such loans.

CORPORATES
CHEVRON CORPORATION, CHEVRON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BP PLC, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, AUSTRALIA. SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, TAX JUSTICE NETWORK, GETUP LIMITED, MINTER ELLISON, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, CLAYTON UTZ

$200b ‘Google tax’ could snare innocent businesses

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 18-Jan-17

Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand has warned that the Federal Government’s Diverted Profits Tax will deter investment in Australia, while discouraging local multinational companies from pursuing overseas expansion. Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills has expressed concern about the scope of the draft legislation compared with the British version of the tax. The tax, which aims to combat profit-shifting by multinationals, is forecast to raise about $A200m over four years and is slated to take effect from mid-2017.

CORPORATES
CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND, GREENWOODS AND HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS PTY LTD, CORPORATE TAX ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

ATO drops boom on marketing hubs

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Original article by Neil Chenoweth
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 10-Aug-16

The use of offshore marketing hubs by resources groups will attract greater scrutiny from the Australian Taxation Office. The proposed crackdown will result in such companies being subject to stricter auditing and disclosure requirements if they are not completely transparent about their marketing arrangements. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both use marketing hubs in Singapore, while the ATO is concerned that the oil and gas industry may pursue profit-shifting arrangements as LNG exports ramp up.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, CHEVRON CORPORATION, CHEVRON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, BP PLC, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION

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

Market power laws ‘ludicrous’

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Nassim Khadem
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 6-Aug-14

The National Press Club has heard from Wesfarmers CEO Richard Goyder, also chair of the Business 20 forum advising the Australian Government. His company owns major retailers Coles and Bunnings, and he rejected plans to extend section 46 of the Australian Consumer Law to small business operators in order to protect them against market dominance by large corporations. Goyder threatened that his group’s tax payments of $A1.5bn per annum and employment of 200,000 local jobs could be reduced, if it adopted the profit shifting strategies of overseas-based rivals such as Aldi or CostCo

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COLES GROUP LIMITED, BUSINESS 20 (B20), GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, COSTCO WHOLESALE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESFARMERS BUNNINGS LIMITED, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA), BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS. BASEL COMMITTEE ON BANKING SUPERVISION

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