As part of a multinational tax integrity package aimed to address the tax avoidance practices of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and improve transparency through better public reporting of MNEs’ tax information, the Australian Treasury issued a Consultation Paper in August 2022. This paper seeks to consult on the implementation of proposals to: amend Australia’s existing thin capitalisation rules to limit interest deductions for MNEs in line with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s recommended approach under Action 4 of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) program (Part 1); introduce a new rule limiting MNEs’ ability to claim tax deductions for payments relating to intangibles and royalties that lead to insufficient tax paid (Part 2); and ensure enhanced tax transparency by MNEs (Part 3), through measures such as public reporting of certain tax information on a country‑by‑country basis; mandatory reporting of material tax risks to shareholders; and requiring tenderers for Australian government contracts to disclose their country of tax domicile. The changes contemplated seek to target activities deliberately designed to minimise tax, while also considering the need to attract and retain foreign capital and investment in Australia, limit potential additional compliance cost considerations for business, and continue to support genuine commercial activity. Australian consultation paper Tax integrity and transparency Aug 2022 ...

Proposal directive of public country-by-country reporting in the EU Ministers held an exchange of views (public session) on how to take the proposed directive forward. Tax transparency is a fundamental principle in any democratic society. It enables policy makers to take informed decisions and to ensure that all economic actors contribute in a fair and equitable manner to the economy of the various countries where they conduct their business. Today’s debate has opened the way for the proposed directive to move forward as a matter of priority. Pedro Siza Vieira, Portuguese Minister of State for the Economy and Digital Transition A clear majority of ministers were of the view that the latest consolidated presidency proposal is technically mature. They invited the Portuguese presidency to seek a negotiating mandate without delay in order to explore with the European Parliament the possibility of a deal for the swift adoption of the directive. The Portuguese presidency concluded that there was political support for it to seek a negotiating mandate in order to explore with the European Parliament the possibility of a deal for the swift adoption of the proposed directive. (Source: European Council) EU CbC draft ST_5183_2021_INIT_en ...