Australia: Public country-by-country (CbC) reporting proposed in 2022-2023 federal budget
Proposals for new public reporting of certain tax information by MNEs beginning 1 July 2023
Proposals for new public reporting of certain tax information by MNEs
Australia’s 2022-2023 federal budget—released on 25 October 2022—includes proposals for new public reporting of certain tax information by multinational enterprises (MNEs) beginning 1 July 2023:
- MNEs that are significant global entities (SGEs) would be required to publicly release certain tax information on a country-by-country (CbC) basis and a statement on their approach to taxation. Assuming an SGE is similar to the current definition, generally speaking, an SGE is a global parent entity with an annual global income of $1 billion* or more, and any member of such a global parent entity’s group.
- Australian public companies (listed and unlisted) would be required to disclose information on the number of their subsidiaries and their country of tax domicile.
- Tenderers for Australian government contracts worth more than $200,000 would be required to disclose their country of tax domicile (by supplying their ultimate head entity’s country of tax residence).
Notably missing is the proposal to require the disclosure of material tax risks to shareholders under the Treasury consultation paper [PDF 515 KB] released 5 August 2022. Read TaxNewsFlash
The proposal included consideration of whether this should apply to companies that have tax haven exposure, or alternatively whether companies should be required to make a disclosure where they have self-assessed a high-risk rating under the Australian Tax Office’s (ATO’s) practical compliance guidelines.
KPMG observation
Some companies have already been voluntarily making comprehensive tax disclosures since 2021 under the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 207 reporting standard that includes, on a CbC basis, disclosures of profits and taxes. There are many common data points across the GRI 207 CbC approach and both the OECD’s CbC reporting recommendations and the EU’s public CbC reporting directive. However, a growing concern is the lack of global consistency in the approach to CbC reporting.
The design of the CbC transparency measures in Australia will be important for achieving a reasonable balance between the public benefit obtained from the measure and any additional administrative and compliance burden that falls on the disclosing taxpayers. If an MNE is already preparing CbC reporting data under the GRI 207 or OECD CbC reporting recommendations, then it would be helpful if this was an acceptable approach to meet the proposed mandatory public CbC rules in Australia to reduce compliance costs.
*$ = Australian dollar
The KPMG name and logo are trademarks used under license by the independent member firms of the KPMG global organization. KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee and does not provide services to clients. No member firm has any authority to obligate or bind KPMG International or any other member firm vis-à-vis third parties, nor does KPMG International have any such authority to obligate or bind any member firm. The information contained herein is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavor to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act on such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation. For more information, contact KPMG's Federal Tax Legislative and Regulatory Services Group at: + 1 202 533 3712, 1801 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20006.