Andrew Leigh

TAX OFFICE REPORT SHOWS IT’S TIME FOR TURNBULL TO GET TOUGH ON MULTINATIONAL TAX AVOIDANCE 

Despite new figures showing more than 1 in 3 large firms pay no tax, the Turnbull Government still believes that cutting company tax rates should be Australia’s top economic priority.

Today’s data is for the 2014/15 tax year. They cover public and foreign-owned companies with total income of $100 million or more and Australian-owned private companies with total income of $200 million or more.

This report, covering 1904 companies in total, is only available thanks to Labor’s tax transparency laws, which passed the parliament in 2013 over the objections of the Coalition.

Labor acknowledges the companies that are doing the right thing. However we are concerned that the report reveals that 36 per cent of large firms paid no tax on their earnings.

This includes 109 companies that paid no tax, despite reporting more than $1 billion in total income.

Comparing today’s figures (for tax year 2014-15) with data for the 2013-14 tax year shows that the share of large firms paying no tax has stayed unchanged, at 36 percent in both years. This points to the Coalition’s failure to crack down on multinational tax avoidance.

Instead of making sure multinationals pay their fair share, the Turnbull government wants to punish working and middle class families by implementing a massive corporate tax cut that will hammer the budget when it is most vulnerable. Treasury’s own estimates show that at best, the company tax cut to the big end of town would deliver just 1 per cent in extra growth over the next 20 years.

Labor leads the debate on multinational tax avoidance and has called for improved transparency laws that bring the disclosure threshold for private firms down to $100 million.

We also remain committed to closing debt-deduction loopholes that cost Australian taxpayers billions of dollars. When multinationals don't pay their fair share, Australians have to pay more.

FRIDAY, 9 DECEMBER 2016

MEDIA CONTACT:             TAIMUS WERNER-GIBBINGS    0437 323 390