Commitments made by leaders at the G20 summit in Brisbane this weekend should result in a fairer international taxation system and ultimately address tax avoidance by multinationals, QUT Professor of Taxation Kerrie Sadiq has said.
Professor Sadiq said that while there is still a great deal to do, leaders committed to reforms which should ensure that when companies' pay tax, that tax will be paid within the countries where they have made their profit.
"As such, the tax scandals we have seen recently coming out of 'Lux-Leaks' as well as multinationals such as Apple, Google and Starbucks being named as engaging in highly aggressive tax planning strategies will hopefully become a thing of the past.
"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 the endorsement of the global Common Reporting Standard for the automatic exchange of information between revenue authorities was the most positive tax reform statement from the Communique.
"The G20 also provides strong support for the recommendations coming out of the OECD project on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)."
"While the reform program is ambitious and not yet finished, G20 leaders have committed to continuing the reform program in 2015."
Professor Sadiq said despite the ongoing nature of the OECD project to address tax base erosion and profit shifting there was now broad agreement from the world's largest economies on complex and multifaceted taxation problems.
"This is very good news and should ultimately result in a taxation system which sees the richest multinational companies paying their fair share of tax."
Professor Sadiq said developing nations would also be pleased to see a commitment to deeper engagement with them to address their concerns.
Media contact: Rose Trapnell, QUT media officer, 07 3138 2361 or 0407 585 901 rose.trapnell@qut.edu.au
