Global tech giants Google, Apple and Microsoft are “under review” by the ATO, senior executives said, on Wed 8.4.2015, when appearing before the Sydney hearing of the Senate Economics References Committee Inquiry into corporate tax avoidance. The executives said the review means the Tax Office has not renewed agreements with the companies on transfer pricing.
Australia is following the lead of Britain and the United States in holding a public inquiry into corporate tax avoidance, although the company executives declined to provide full details about their financial structures.
Google Australia’s Managing Director Maile Carnegie, Apple’s Australia and New Zealand head Tony King and Microsoft tax executive Bill Sample all declined to say what proportion of their income was taxed in Australia and how much of it they moved overseas, if at all.
All 3 executives denied they avoided tax.
- “We haven’t shifted any profits,” said Apple’s King. He said Apple Australia booked its revenues and sales locally.
- Carnegie and Sample told the inquiry that they booked most of the revenue from their Australian business in Singapore
In their submissions to the Senate committee, both Google and Apple called for Australia to participate in the BEPS project that is being co-ordinated by the G20 countries and the OECD.
[LTN 66, 9/4/15]