Australian Tax Office (ATO) transparency regimes and initiatives part of commitment to combat international tax avoidance.
They involve comprehensive exchanges of taxpayer information and the number of jurisdictions they now exchange information with is growing.
The ATO works with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Joint International Tax Shelter Information Centre (JITSIC) and overseas jurisdictions to improve global tax transparency. These regimes and initiatives contribute to ensuring individual and corporate taxpayers pay the right amount of tax in Australia.
The measures supporting international tax transparency include:
Automatic exchange of information (AEOI) regimes
The ATO automatically exchanges information with a number of partner jurisdictions. AEOI measures include:
- Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting – CbC is an OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Item. It requires Significant Global Entities to provide the ATO with three statements giving a global perspective of their structure, operations, financial arrangements and economic activity.
- Common Reporting Standard (CRS) – CRS is the global standard to collect, report and exchange financial account information from respective domestic financial institutions on foreign tax residents.
- Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) – Under FATCA, Australia and the US collect and exchange financial account information from respective domestic financial institutions on foreign tax residents.
- Other bulk taxpayer information exchanges – The ATO automatically exchanges bulk taxpayer information containing various types of income with partner jurisdictions that have signed a tax treaty with Australia or are signatories to the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (PDF 625KB).
Exchange of rulings
Exchange of Rulings strengthens transparency through compulsory spontaneous exchange of information on certain types of rulings. For more information, see the OECD Action 5 final report.
Exchange of information (EOI)
International Exchange of Information (EOI) is the key mechanism used to share taxpayer-related information between Australia and other jurisdictions in order to administer and enforce Australia’s tax laws.
Panama Papers
The ATO has identified Australian residents linked to the Panama Papers and intermediaries who facilitated arrangements and are taking action against taxpayers who have not met their obligations.
Paradise Papers
The ATO works closely with partner agencies in Australia and overseas in anticipation of the latest data release by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Read more about this in statement regarding the paradise papers.
The ATO encourages anyone who believes they may have undeclared offshore income to contact them and come forward by making a voluntary disclosure.