(MENAFN- AFP) Australia on Tuesday unveiled a further push to crack down on tax avoidance by multinational companies, imposing a 40 percent penalty rate on firms that shift profits offshore.
The revenue-raising measure, which is similar to the so-called "Google Tax" introduced by Britain last year, was a key part of the nation's annual budget.
It is forecast to raise Aus$3.9 billion (US$2.95 billion) over the next four years when combined with a broader tax avoidance package.
The package includes stronger protections for whistleblowers and harsher penalties for multinationals that fail to meet tax compliance or disclosure obligations.
"Everyone has to pay their fair share of tax, especially large corporates and multinationals, on what they earn here in Australia," Treasurer Scott Morrison told parliament in his budget speech in Canberra.
"New measures... include embracing a new diverted profits tax, as implemented in the United Kingdom, that taxes multinationals on income they have sought to shift offshore at a penalty rate of 40 percent, that is higher than the current company tax rate (of 30 percent)."
The government added that Aus$679 million would be allocated to the Australian Tax Office over four years to set up a taskforce focused on clawing back revenue from international firms as well as wealthy people.
There has been a global push, including in Australia, for large local and international companies to stop using sophisticated structures to avoid or lower their tax payments, which has seen governments lose billions of dollars.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has estimated national governments miss out on US$100-240 billion, or four to 10 percent of global tax revenues, every year due to the tax-minimising schemes of multinationals.
Australia last year introduced several measures targeting international tax avoidance, including lifting transparency requirements that include disclosures required for private companies with turnover of Aus$200 million.
Large multinationals, including tech giants such as Google and Microsoft, have also been hauled before a parliamentary committee on corporate tax avoidance to explain their tax structures.
The drive by Morrison to boost revenues came as Canberra sought to rein in its deficit, which was forecast in the budget papers to reach Aus$37.1 billion, or 2.2 percent of GDP, in 2016-17.
Government income in the resources-dependent country has been eroded by falling commodity prices as demand from Australia's largest trading partner China wanes, and from lower-than-expected income tax receipts amid weak wages growth.
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