Andrew Leigh

WHOSE SIDE ARE THE LIBERALS ON: AUSTRALIAN WORKERS AND SMALL BUSINESS OR MULTINATIONALS?

Despite occasionally pretending to 'get tough' with multinationals, the Liberals have repeatedly failed to ensure multinationals pay their fair share of tax.

Scott Morrison backed away from plans to address tax avoidance by multinational companies in the Budget by reducing the so-called “safe harbour” level in thin capitalisation rules.

This back down came despite journalists being briefed on the proposal before Budget night, while tell-tale signs remained in the budget glossy documents.

In April, Kelly O’Dwyer said, “there needs to be a registry of beneficial ownership in our country” and confirmed that Australia would establish a public registry of beneficial ownership for companies.

However, at the recent international summit on the issue Australia committed only to “exploring options” for such a register.

The Liberals again sided with big business when Josh Frydenberg defended loopholes that allow multinational companies to shift profits offshore at an industry conference last Friday.

Australians must feel like Charlie Brown kicking the football.

The Liberals promise they'll do the right thing every time, only to take the ball away at the last moment.

Labor is putting people first. We will close debt deduction loopholes that allow multinationals to siphon money out of Australia.

Under Labor’s policy, there will be no arbitrary thin capitalisation threshold.

Firms will be subject to a worldwide gearing ratio, which means they can only deduct debt from their Australian operations up to the overall level of debt held by the multinational group.

Every dollar we lose through multinational tax evasion is a dollar less that we can invest in infrastructure projects, schools and hospitals - creating jobs right here in Australia rather than enriching offshore shareholders.

It has become crystal clear that the Liberal Party has no intention of cracking down on multinational tax avoidance.

MONDAY, 16 MAY 2016