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Combating multinational tax avoidance

Regulation Impact Statement – Department of the Treasury

On 16 September 2015, the then Treasurer introduced legislation to reduce the opportunities and incentives for multinational tax avoidance. The legislation allows the Commissioner of Taxation to ignore, for the purposes of determining taxable Australian income, artificial or contrived structures used by multinationals to avoid having a taxable presence in Australia. It also implements the OECD’s Country‑by-Country reporting regime and increases the administrative penalties for tax avoidance faced by multinationals. A Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) prepared by the Department of the Treasury has been assessed as compliant and consistent with best practice by the Office of Best Practice Regulation. The RIS estimates the proposals will increase regulatory burden by $23.25 million per annum. The OBPR agreed to the regulatory costs and offsets.