Andrew Leigh

MEDIA RELEASE

COALITION TO HELP BIGGEST COMPANIES HIDE FROM TAX SCRUTINY

Leaks out of today’s Liberal party room confirm the Abbott Government is gearing up to dump transparency laws which would let Australians seen how much tax big multinationals pay.

Because of reforms introduced by Labor in 2013, the Australian Tax Office is getting ready to release information about the taxable income and tax paid for companies earning over $100 million.

But in today’s party room meeting, Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg reportedly announced he is working on plans to roll back the transparency laws.

This would be yet another example of the Abbott Government siding with the big end of town against the interests of the Australian community.

Rolling back these transparency laws means shielding big multinationals from public scrutiny. Without transparent tax reporting, it will be easier for some big firms to continue to avoid paying their fair share of tax.

The Liberal Party has tried to block better transparency on the tax affairs of big multinationals since the day Labor first proposed this.

Not content with voting against the transparency laws and dragging their feet on implementing them for over 18 months, the Abbott Government is now actively working to undermine them.

Joe Hockey and Tony Abbott are full of big talk about cracking down on tax avoidance. But when it counts in the party room and the parliament, their government consistently lets companies off the hook.

When public reports come out about companies paying too little tax, they question the accuracy of the figures. But when Labor ensures that the tax office reports accurate data, they oppose it.

Labor currently has a bill before Parliament to increase tax transparency, but the Liberals oppose it. Australians can judge for themselves which party is really committed to ensuring multinationals pay their fair share.

TUESDAY, 17 MARCH 2015