Andrew Leigh

This morning I introduced a Private Members Bill to increase tax transparency by requiring the ATO to publish data on what big companies have paid. The Abbott Government now has a choice: it can back my bill, or prove it really is all talk but no action on tackling multinational tax avoidance. 

MEDIA RELEASE

TIME FOR ABBOTT GOVERNMENT TO BACK BETTER TAX TRANSPARENCY

Labor has today introduced a bill to put more information about how much tax multinational companies pay into the public domain.

The Private Members Bill will bring forward the publication of data about the tax paid by companies with total income over $100 million. If passed, the Australian Tax Office will publish information about these companies’ taxable income, total income and tax paid for the 2012–13 financial year onwards.

Knowing more about what companies earned and how much tax they paid is an important step in addressing multinational profit shifting.

But despite its recent rhetoric on tackling tax avoidance, the Abbott Government has refused to support this important transparency measure.

This is entirely consistent with the Liberals’ ‘all talk and no action’ approach to ensuring companies pay their fair share.    

In the past two years they have voted against Labor’s Countering Tax Avoidance and Multinational Profit Shifting Bill 2013, and also attempted to block our Cross-Border Transfer Pricing Bill 2012.

Since taking government, Treasurer Joe Hockey has scrapped five significant Labor tax measures which would have stopped more than $1.1 billion in profits being siphoned offshore.

The Abbott Government can no longer get away with telling the Australian people one thing and then doing the opposite.

Just two months ago, Joe Hockey stood before the G20 Finance Ministers meeting and said:

“Supporting greater tax transparency and information exchange is our best weapon to crack down on tax avoidance and evasion right now.”

Joe Hockey – G20 Finance Ministers Meeting Cairns - 20 September 2014

If Joe Hockey and the Abbott Government really believe in tackling multinational profit shifting, they must now back Labor’s new transparency bill.

MONDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2014

MEDIA CONTACT: JENNIFER RAYNER 0428 214 856