Australia must use its position as G20 host to push for urgently needed tax reforms that ensure the richest multinational companies pay their fair share, a QUT expert says.
Professor of Taxation Kerrie Sadiq, from QUT Business School, said the November Brisbane summit offered a chance to make "real and substantive progress" on international tax reform.
"Australia is in a unique position to ensure this is not just another talkfest but that we can produce tangible results," Professor Sadiq, who contributed to a recent CEDA report on securing the G20's future, said.
"Taxes fund all of our essential services - education, health, welfare - and it is vital we construct genuine reforms to guarantee everyone pays their fair share of tax."
Professor Sadiq said media reporting highlighting the amount of tax paid by multinationals including Apple, Starbucks and Amazon, had helped expose the "inadequacies of the current international tax regime".
Apple, for example, paid tax at the rate of 0.7 per cent of its turnover to the Australian Taxation Office for 2012-13, according to reports.
Professor Sadiq said issues of tax avoidance, base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) and tax transparency, made tax reform one of the top 10 priorities for the G20 summit.
"These companies are complying with the law but the laws are broken and need to be fixed," she said.
"Prior to the GFC, government budgets weren't as tight, but in the current economic climate they need to find that additional funding for vital services and infrastructure and an improved taxation system could provide that extra revenue.
"The G20 needs to think about alternative models such as apportioning the income to be taxed according to the real activities of multinationals."
It was essential developing countries also played a role in shaping reforms, Professor Sadiq said, as they relied more heavily on corporate income tax.
"We are talking about places which often have the minimum in healthcare and education standards, so losing so much income through outdated tax laws means having to rely more heavily on foreign aid," she said.
"This is a global issue that needs to be addressed and, if it is, everyone stands to gain."
Media contact:
Rob Kidd, QUT Media, 07 3138 1841, rj.kidd@qut.edu.au
After hours, Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901
