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Greenlight for ‘Paradise Papers’ to be used in ATO’s tax haven targeting
A High Court decision regarding the infamous “Paradise Papers” means the Australian Tax Office can continue its fight against large corporations hiding capital in tax havens.
Greenlight for ‘Paradise Papers’ to be used in ATO’s tax haven targeting
A High Court decision regarding the infamous “Paradise Papers” means the Australian Tax Office can continue its fight against large corporations hiding capital in tax havens.
In a statement from the ATO’s second commissioner Jereyy Hirschhorn, it was indicated that the organisation will continue to target large corporations who are not paying tax in Australia, namely Glencore, who was at the centre of the High Court battle to have documents detailing money movements labelled as subject to legal professional privilege.
The coal producer lost the bid to hide documents that were leaked as part of the Paradise Papers.
Commenting on the decision, Mr Hirschhorn said “the ATO will continue to use all information available to ensure large corporations and those trying to hide money overseas are paying the right amount of tax”.
“Our wide and growing range of information sources and increased collaboration with overseas agencies are vital tools in achieving this objective,” he continued.
Discussing how taxes not being paid where they are due in Australia hurt the national economy, the commissioner said the ATO “will continue to work for all Australians in ensuring that our revenue base is not eroded by taxpayers not paying the right amount of tax in Australia”.
He called the decision against Glencore a “win for the Australian community who rightly expect the ATO to use all information available to ensure large corporations and those who seek to hide money overseas are paying the right amount of tax”.
The Paradise Papers, some of which detailed Glencore dealings, was a set of 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to a German reporter back in 2017.
According to the information leaked, Glencore has previously moved billions of dollars of global assets into offshore tax structures to avoid paying tax domestically.
When the information first leaked, the ATO announced it would respond “decisively” to the information alleged within the documents.
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