The Treasurer has advised that Australia and Britain have agreed to a shared agenda to combat tax avoidance and evasion. Mr Bowen said Britain has made this a priority for its G8 presidency this year and Australia will make it a priority for its G20 presidency next year.
Mr Bowen also announced that Australia will join the pilot scheme for the multilateral exchange of tax information established by Britain along with France, Germany, Italy and Spain in April 2013. This pilot will allow for automatic information exchange between participating countries to help tax authorities to tackle international tax evasion.
The Treasurer noted this move complements the OECD/G20 project on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting to address tax avoidance: see para [1] of this LTN.
Source: Treasurer’s media release No 009, 20 July 2013
[LTN 139, 22/7/13]