For those who are hopeful that the aftermath of the PwC scandal will usher in a new era of tax transparency, there's a reason to pause.
"The intent is that increased public disclosures will lead to enhanced scrutiny on companies' arrangements, including how they structure their subsidiaries and operate in different jurisdictions, including for tax purposes," the material explaining the now-killed off laws said.
"Business welcomes the government's commitment to continued consultation on measures that risked undermining Australia's international competitiveness and ability to attract investment," Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said.The BCA's Jennifer Westacott is pleased the laws won't pass.
"To introduce a regime that doesn't seek such alignment would directly work against the government's objective of delivering improvements in the quality and comparability of tax disclosures and improving the flow of useful information to the community," she said. "Business is very keen to sit down with other interested stakeholders and co-design a world leading corporate tax transparency regime that allows a better assessment of corporate activities while keeping compliance costs to a minimum," she said.Tax Justice Network's Mark Zirnsak worries that the watered-down version of the laws won't be useful.
"My biggest fear is that some people making the biggest noise is they don't want exposed exactly what's going on," Mr Zirnsak says. "At Brookfield 27 per cent of shareholders voted for public country-by-country reporting," he said, noting 18 per cent of stock is held by the company or their directors, which if taken into account would mean one-third of its shareholders support public reporting.
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