Australia to crack down on alleged tax avoidance by 30 multinationals - Yahoo Finance

Australia to crack down on alleged tax avoidance by 30 multinationals - Yahoo Finance: "SYDNEY, May 11 (Reuters) - The Australian government announced a world-leading crackdown on Monday on alleged tax avoidance by 30 multinational companies that will likely force them to restructure their businesses before next year.

"These companies are diverting profits earned in Australia away from Australia to no-tax or low-tax jurisdictions," Treasurer Joe Hockey told reporters in Canberra.

He declined to identify the targets, but said "it's pretty evident which companies are involved". Google Inc, Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp revealed earlier this year they were under review by the Australian Tax Office.

Australia has joined Britain in moving to tackle companies such as the global tech giants over tax avoidance, particularly the shifting of profits from high-tax countries to more relaxed regimes like Singapore and Switzerland.

Under Australia's leadership last year, the Group of 20 leading economies (G20) endorsed a set of common standards for sharing bank account information across borders with automatic exchange of information among members."



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