Key Points:
The proposal to publish limited tax information of large
corporate entities will only raise more questions than it
answers.
The push by the OECD and other globally based organisations for
more tax transparency has meant that information a taxpayer may
have provided to its relevant tax authority is becoming
increasingly shared. Though there is a debate about the efficacy
and security of automatic information exchanges (AIE), many would
say that sharing and cross-checking information at a governmental
level is a sensible approach to enforcing the tax rules as they
apply to multinational enterprises. However, Australia has taken
this a step further by suggesting that for certain taxpayers,
information should be shared with the world. That is a very
significant and highly political leap.
