The renewed focus on the ’global tax share’ of OECD countries relative to the global profits of multinationals has reignited the debate about the adequacy and transparency of tax information in Australia. The following article considers the viability of recent proposals. In April 2013, Australia’s Assistant Treasurer released a discussion paper – Improving the transparency of Australia’s business tax system – that outlined three options for reform in this area. The three specific proposals set out in the discussion paper are:
1. Legislative reforms to require the Commissioner of Taxation to publish limited tax return information1 of corporate tax entities2 with total income of A$100 million or more3. The exact form of these publications would be left to the Commissioner but could, for example, be on the Australian Taxation Office’s (‘‘ATO’s’’) website.
2. Legislative reforms to allow the Commissioner of Taxation to publish aggregate collections for each Commonwealth tax4 consistent with the ATO’s obligations under the Privacy Act 1988. The privacy of individuals would be protected.
3. Legislative reforms to allow enhanced information sharing between Government agencies.
4. Option 1 is of particular interest to corporate taxpayers and is the focus of this article. In a media release earlier this year6 the Minister stated: ‘‘Improving the transparency of Australia’s business tax system will encourage enterprises to pay their fair share of tax and discourage aggressive tax minimisation practices.
It will allow the public to better understand the business tax system and engage in debates about tax policy.’’ Although this seems like a noble objective, there is a genuine concern that increased ’public’ disclosure may simply fuel sensational headlines and illinformed debate with little or no impact on increasing taxes payable in Australia.
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