New income tax and GST rules to hit offshore multinationals

Treasurer Joe Hockey has today confirmed that Australia is going to bolster its income tax anti-avoidance rules to counter large multinationals (global revenues over $1bn) channelling revenues from Australian activities into tax havens.

A key requirement for the anti-avoidance rules to apply will be that a principal purpose of the scheme is to avoid a taxable presence in Australia. The Tax Commissioner will have power to recover unpaid tax and impose penalties of 100% of unpaid tax plus interest.

Legislation will be released in tomorrow night’s budget. We will provide you with a detailed analysis as further information emerges.

The Treasurer has also confirmed that the GST base will be expanded to include digitally delivered content from offshore – seeking to level the playing field between Australian based suppliers of digital content and those operating from other jurisdictions.