Memo #
35320

For Member Review: DRAFT letter on Australia's Public Country-by-Country Reporting Proposal
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[35320]

May 19, 2023

TO: Global Tax Committee
Tax Committee RE: For Member Review: DRAFT letter on Australia's Public Country-by-Country Reporting Proposal

 

Attached is a draft coalition letter crafted by ICI addressing concerns with Australia's public country-by-country reporting proposal. ICI is coordinating with other industry associations to potentially join the letter. The proposal as currently drafted would require multinational entities to prepare for public release certain tax information on a country‑by‑country basis and a statement on their approach to taxation (for income years commencing from 1 July 2023). Specifically, the letter explains that:

  • the proposal fails its goal of fairly informing the public about a company's true tax position;
  • the proposal's goal may not be achievable even if companies include an enormous amount of narrative to supplement the data provided;
  • the proposal's expansive scope goes far beyond what other jurisdictions require and will result in confusing inconsistencies in how information is reported;
  • Australia's commitment under BEPS to this information private is being violated;
  • significant harm will be incurred by companies required to disclose to their competitors highly sensitive commercial information; and
  • the proposal's Australia-specific requirements could mislead the public in many cases.

To address these concerns the letter recommends that the draft proposal be modified to:

  • limit the proposal's extraterritorial effect by:
    • exempting non-resident parent MNEs with de minimis Australian operations;
    • eliminating the extensive reporting that is not required anywhere else in the world; and
    • aggregating information for all non-Australian countries that are not tax havens;
  • include a safeguard clause that would protect the competitive position of firms by allowing commercially sensitive information to remain confidential;
  • require reporting consistent with international norms and Pillar 2.

Please provide any comments to the letter to Keith Lawson at lawson@ici.org or the undersigned at katie.sunderland@ici.org by close of business on Thursday, May 25th.

 

Katie Sunderland
Associate General Counsel
 

 

    Attachments

    35320a.pdf