Responding to reports the European Commission has ordered US tech giant Apple to repay a record 13 billion euros (AU$19.73 billion) in back taxes after ruling a series of Irish tax deals were illegal, Oxfam’s Fair Economies Advocacy Manager Joy Kyriacou said:
“This ruling by the European Commission shows how much the public lose out when big companies do the wrong thing and governments don’t step in and stop them.
“Governments spurn the chance to raise billions in corporate tax income for the benefit of their citizens.
“This should not be tolerated. We know in Australia that large multinational companies are the real ‘taxed-nots’. Our recent research found tax-dodging practices by multinationals deprived the nation’s public coffers of as much as AU$6 billion in 2014 alone.
“This decision today is a great lesson for the Australian Government and a reminder that there’s much more to be done on our own turf, as one in three large companies reported on by the Australian Tax Office in 2014 paid no tax.
“The Australian Government should show that it’s tackling this issue by making the tax affairs of Australian-based multinationals public – not only for their operations in Australia, but for every country in which they operate.
“This would give governments and the public the ability to hold these companies to account.
“An independent online poll commissioned by Oxfam in June showed that 90 per cent of Australians polled think the Government should do more to stop multinational corporations avoiding paying tax in Australia and in every country in which they operate.”
For interviews or more information, please contact Amanda Banks on 0411 449 653 or amandab@oxfam.org.au
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