The government is creating a new operational taskforce of more than 1,000 specialist staff at the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to prosecute companies, multinationals and high wealth individuals who are not paying enough tax.
Greens MP Adam Bandt has lambasted the passing of new laws that ensure tax details of Australian-owned private companies are exempt from public disclosure rules, saying the government has made it easier for these companies to avoid paying their share of tax.
The Abbott government’s planned laws to deal with multinational tax avoidance are an opportunistic revenue grab that could be vigorously resisted by the United States, according to Craig Cooper, director at accounting firm, RSM Bird Cameron.
Apple Australia pays all the taxes it owes under local laws, the tech giant’s local chief, Tony King, told the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance in Sydney on Wednesday.