Treasurer Wayne Swan has written to his counterparts in the powerful G20 Finance Ministers Group calling for
a global action plan to be developed
by June to counter international profit shifting and tax avoidance.
Mr Swan leaves Australia for Moscow tonight to attend the Group of 20 meeting, at which he will urge -ministers from the world's largest economies to adopt a more aggressive approach to boosting economic growth and protecting jobs.
Domestically, the government recently named Google and Apple as companies it believes are using complex structures to shift profits to -lower-tax countries.
The Treasurer told The Australian Financial Review yesterday there was a "fair bit of momentum" around the world towards an agreement in Moscow to act on profit shifting, citing British Prime Minister David Cameron, Germany, France and US President Barack Obama, who recently noted "the empirical evidence suggests that income-shifting behaviour by
multinational corporations is a significant concern that should be
addressed through tax reform".
...
In his letter to G20 ministers, Mr Swan said they would be meeting at a time when there were reasons for "tentative optimism" on the global economy but that "
reforms that will support jobs and growth" still remained "
the most pressing challenge".
But he said moving "
to enhance the sustainability and integrity of the global tax system" was one of several other challenges.
"International tax standards around the world need to be robust and
effective in the context of a global economy operating in a digital age," Mr Swan said. "This changing environment has allowed some corporations to institute practices that allow them to avoid tax. In doing so, they leave all the heavy lifting to the vast bulk of companies and individuals who do the right thing.
"While each country can do much to ensure the integrity of their own tax systems, we must step up our efforts to work together to ensure international tax standards keep pace with the changing nature of global commerce."
http://www.afr.com/p/national/swan_urges_action_on_tax_cheats_etlPFt6f1KkFywolggYttN
