Andrew Leigh

GOVERNMENT PUTS TAX SECRECY AHEAD OF PASSING MULTINATIONAL TAX PLAN

Treasurer Scott Morrison cares so much about helping huge companies hide their tax dealings that he is now delaying the passage of his own multinational tax bill to do so.

Yesterday the Senate stood up for tax fairness by passing the Multinational Tax Avoidance Bill with important amendments that restore tax transparency.

The Senate’s fair amendments reversed the Government’s attempt to gut Australia’s tax transparency laws. As a result, private companies earning more than $100 million a year would continue to be included in transparency reports published by the Australian Tax Office. 

In restoring tax transparency while supporting the key multinational tax provisions, the Senate has greatly improved the Government’s bill.

Labor has consistently supported tax transparency. We introduced tax reporting laws in 2013, and opposed the government’s attempts to water down tax transparency. Yesterday, we voted in the Senate for transparency over secrecy.

Yet when the bill returned to the House today for a final vote, the Government chose to block the amendments. This will delay the passage of their own multinational tax package, which Scott Morrison has been trumpeting for months as a top priority.

That package could pass the Parliament today if the Treasurer would accept these reasonable amendments to ensure Australia’s richest firms are held accountable for how much tax they pay.

The new multinational tax laws are supposed to take effect on 1 January next year. With only two more Parliamentary sittings weeks left this year, the Government is putting at risk the opportunity to get its own bill through in time.   

Scott Morrison has today proved he thinks shielding a handful of rich firms from scrutiny is more important than delivering his own multinational tax plan.

THURSDAY, 12 NOVEMBER 2015

MEDIA CONTACT: JENNIFER RAYNER 0428 214 856