Australian High Court clarifies definition of “associate” in BHP Billiton tax dispute.
BHP Billiton's case puts Australia’s controlled foreign corporation laws into better perspective. ... - Continue reading
Category: BHP Billiton
ATO’s tax gap figures revealed: $2.5 billion missing from corporates, multinationals
An estimated $3.5 billion in revenue from large corporates and multinationals is at risk to the economy, but through audit activity this will reduce to $2.5 billion, according to the Australian Taxation Office. On Wednesday the agency is releasing the first tranche of its long-awaited highly anticipated “tax gap” figures,… – Continue reading
BHP willing to head to court against ATO tax bill
BHP is willing to head to court to fight the Australian Taxation Office on a more than $1 billion tax bill over its Singapore marketing hub. The world’s largest miner has continually defended its Singapore marketing hub, where it is accused of routing profits, and says it is confident of… – Continue reading
Corporate giants hit with $2.2b Australia tax bill
Companies including Apple, Google and BHP Billiton were grilled at parliamentary hearings on their tax structures in 2015 SYDNEY: Australia on Thursday said it had slapped seven large multinationals with a multi-billion-dollar tax bill as it pursued global firms shifting profits offshore to minimise liabilities. The companies hit with the… – Continue reading
Corporate tax-dodging in Australia costs billions
Two reports on company taxation show that more than a third of the largest companies operating in Australia paid no tax in 2014–15 and that multinational tax evasion cost an estimated $4.8 billion that year. These reports show the fraud of the claims being made by the Australian government and… – Continue reading
Showdown between ATO and big business looms as list of company tax paid is revealed
A showdown between the Australian Taxation Office and the nation’s largest companies including Chevron, Crown and BHP Billiton is looming as the tax man hits seven large companies with tax bills amounting to $2 billion. On Friday, the ATO released its corporate tax transparency report for 2014-15, which includes limited… – Continue reading
There is one way to put a stop to BHP’s tax avoidance
One of the most common ways multinationals take advantage of current laws to reduce their tax bill is through what’s known as transfer pricing. Former Treasurer Wayne Swan last week accused mining giant BHP of “aggressive transfer pricing,” denying the Australian government A$5.7 billion in tax revenue. For most companies,… – Continue reading
BHP Billiton has evaded taxes for more than a decade, says Wayne Swan
Former Labor treasurer Wayne Swan has accused one of Australia’s biggest companies of evading taxes for more than a decade, and for lying to the former Labor government during the height of the mining tax debate. Swan used parliamentary privilege on Wednesday to claim BHP Billiton had been “gaming the… – Continue reading
Top corporate players sign up for voluntary tax code
Twenty of the nation’s largest companies have voluntarily signed up to a comprehensive new code to disclose more details of their tax affairs in their latest ¬annual accounts following a series of scandals involving local and offshore firms. In the May budget, the federal government announced it was committed to… – Continue reading
Wesfarmers urges Aldi to sign tax code in ‘corporate peer pressure’
Coles has urged its German rival Aldi to sign up to a new tax transparency code that will lead to more big businesses, particularly multinationals, releasing detailed information about the tax they pay. Aldi has yet to sign up to the Voluntary Tax Transparency Code, which targets more than 1500… – Continue reading
Australia to gain from Singapore joining OECD fight against multinational tax avoidance
Multinationals suspected of routing Australian profits via Singapore will be outed to tax authorities, with the low-tax nation this week signing up to the global plan to fight tax evasion. Companies including big miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto as well as technology giants Apple and Google, have admitted using… – Continue reading
Wayne Swan: Tax avoidance impoverishes us all. Fighting it requires challenging the powerful
few days before Christmas, in the full light of an Australian summer, the Australian tax commissioner published the tax details of 1,500 large corporate taxpayers which showed a staggering one-third of these companies paid no tax in 2014. This transparency measure was part of a wider package of ground-breaking legislation… – Continue reading
Australia lays bare corporate tax details
The Australian Government’s efforts to improve tax collections are more urgent amid falling revenue from weak commodity prices, the Wall Street Journal reports Malcolm Turnbull’s government took the rare step of making public the tax affairs of scores of multinationals, highlighting that many big names—including Apple Inc. and Volkswagen AG… – Continue reading
ATO to unveil large business hit list, clamps down on Singapore hubs
Hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue could be up for grabs as the Tax Office announces reviews of multinationals using offshore hubs in Singapore to minimise their tax. The ATO has issued a warning to multinationals to come forward immediately to discuss their overseas hub arrangements, if they have… – Continue reading
People are leaving fake price tags in IKEA to call out tax avoidance
Some people think popular furniture store IKEA is being naughty, and not paying its proper share of tax in Australia. The franchise is a behemoth, both literally in terms of store size and figuratively in that it collected a US$5 billion profit for the 2014 financial year. A community action… – Continue reading
Uber, Airbnb to be hauled before Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance
What does Uber mean for Canberra? Journalist Henry Belot explains how Uber will work in the ACT and what it means for passengers and drivers. Uber and Airbnb will be dragged before the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance this week to face questions about tax structures that allow them… – Continue reading
Chevron tax dodge busted for $322 million
Profit-shifting has not paid off for petroleum multinational Chevron, slugged with a tax bill for $322 million thanks to a Supreme Court decision on Friday. Chevron has been under close scrutiny this year, particularly since a senate inquiry into tax-avoidance in April which also put mining giants BHP, Rio Tinto,… – Continue reading
Turnbull Government welcomes Labor’s support on laws targeted at MNCs tax evasion
The Turnbull government has welcomed the support of the Labor party for the new laws that will add more teeth to the government’s crackdown on multinational tax dodgers. The government also offered to consider the suggestions of the opposition in improving the scope of the legislation. Labor formally announced its… – Continue reading
Orica fights $50 million tax bill over ’round-robin’ financing
Orica has again found itself at odds with the Australian Taxation Office, this time over the circular financing arrangements the explosive maker put in place in 2002 to improve profits for the then struggling group. Orica has disputed the amended tax assessment from the ATO in relation to its “round-robin”… – Continue reading
Singapore backs international plan to curb tax avoidance
Singapore has given the thumbs up to an international plan that aims to clamp down on tax avoidance by multinational firms, reports the Straits Times. The Republic says if the plan is soundly implemented, it will help foster free and fair economic competition. Singapore agrees with the main principle of… – Continue reading
BHP says it’s paying a fair share of taxes
BHP Billiton has defended the use of a Singapore marketing hub to minimise its tax payments, saying most of its Australian profits continue to be taxed in its home country. The resources giant, which came under fire earlier this year over allegations of tax avoidance, says its global adjusted effective… – Continue reading
BHP Billiton warns of backlash over any Australian tax-grab policies
BHP Billiton has warned any move by Australia to single-handedly combat corporate profit shifting could spark a backlash from other nations that is likely to ultimately harm local companies. Finance director Peter Beaven says while action on so-called base erosion and profit shifting is needed, it must be part of… – Continue reading
Chevron tax filings challenged by US tax authorities, report says
Chevron’s tax filings face repeated challenges from the United States and other global tax authorities, according to a new union-backed report that calls on world governments to crack down on the energy giant’s alleged profit-shifting tactics. The world’s largest trade union body, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), has called… – Continue reading
Tax avoidance crackdown: 1000 multinationals face tax squeeze under new rules
‘I’m not going to buy into that’ Joe Hockey refuses to feed speculation that he could be replaced as Treasurer by Scott Morrison under the new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Malcolm Turnbull’s first full day as PM: Live coverage Joe Hockey signals he’s ready to serve on Malcolm Turnbull’s frontbench… – Continue reading
ATO warns multinationals over use of Singapore, Swiss and other offshore hubs
The Australian Taxation Office has warned companies it will be focusing on money attributed to offshore marketing hubs and will use its stronger transfer pricing powers to go after them, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Australian companies sent more than AU$100 billion to related parties in the low-tax nation of… – Continue reading
Australia plans new law on tax avoidance
Sydney, 10 June (Argus) — The Australian government has released legislation to tighten rules governing corporate taxation such as the use of offshore tax havens. The bill is not aimed at any particular sector of the economy, but several resource and commodity companies have come under scrutiny following a Senate… – Continue reading
Fortescue set up secret trading shell in low-tax Singapore
Fortescue Metals Group established a company in Singapore that could buy and sell its iron ore more than a year before it started attacking its rivals for doing the same thing. The company, called Fortescue International Marketing, is incorporated and domiciled in Singapore. Still dormant, it is ready to be… – Continue reading
Tax man targets BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto’s ‘Singapore sling’
It’s shaping as a fight that could recover hundreds of millions in lost tax revenue. In one corner is the commissioner of taxation. In the other, Australia’s two biggest miners — BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. At stake is their use of Singapore-based marketing hubs, which until now have remained… – Continue reading
Glencore reveals it’s being audited by ATO over taxes
Glencore is under audit by the Australian Taxation Office for the low level of taxes it pays, claiming billions in “losses” overseas and resorting to low-tax or no-tax nations such as Bermuda, Singapore and the Cayman Islands. The Swiss-based mining giant revealed it was being investigated by the ATO in… – Continue reading
Costello warns money will head offshore if shareholder tax credits changed
FORMER treasurer Peter Costello says changing or ending tax credits for shareholders who get dividends would see investors send their money offshore. The financial system inquiry (FSI) last year questioned the wisdom of dividend imputations, where shareholders get a tax credit for the profits a firm shares with investors via… – Continue reading
Singapore’s government says it’s not a tax haven, it’s a value-adding hub
Singapore is not a tax haven, it’s a value-adding hub. That is the claim of the island nation’s Economic Development Board, the Singaporean government agency that’s been charged with attracting business and investment. It has disputed recent claims at the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance that it’s being used… – Continue reading
