Rotten to the core — Apple dodges taxes
AS revelations emerge that yet another major company is joining the lineup of corporate tax dodgers, Unions are calling for fairer representation.
“The Federal Government’s little known tax advisory body is out there speaking on our behalf to legislators — but did you even know they existed?,” asks Australian Services Union National Secretary, David Smith.
Treasurer Scott Morrison’s advisory panel on tax this week instructed big business and its industry bodies to mount a slick public relations campaign.
The aim? To convince us it’s right big companies shouldn’t always pay the mandatory 30 per cent tax rate.
The order for a PR blitz comes as details of a new, tiny tax bill were revealed this week: Multinational giant Apple made a minute tax contribution in Australia — just $85 million compared to its sales of $8 billion.
This comes as the Coalition considers a higher or broader GST on private taxpayers.
As well, there’s a mounting campaign to attack the weekend penalty rates of thousands of workers.
The Australian Tax Office revealed in December that 579 companies with combined turnover of $405.9 billion paid no tax in 2013/14.
Now, Apple is joining the ranks, as the company heads for a zero tax bill in 2016 due to $200 million in tax offsets on its books.
Apple is not alone — more than one-third of major public companies and multinational entities paid no tax in 2013–14, according to the first transparency report published by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
The report made public the names of the 600 firms which paid no tax at all.
Among them are Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, the privatised Qantas Airways, which earned $14.9 billion, ExxonMobil Australia ($9.617 billion), Virgin Australia ($4.3 billion) and General Motors Australia ($4.138 billion).
That’s right — While working Australians are slugged on every dollar they earn, hundreds of our biggest corporate bludgers paid not a cent in tax.
Meanwhile Unions are angry the Coalition’s lineup of tax experts does not include a single member of the broader community it is claiming to represent.
The Board of Taxation is heavily-skewed towards business, with members largely drawn from the big four accountancy firms and the major law firms.
For example, the four-person working group proposing the PR campaign to clear up “common misconceptions” about corporate tax, includes Ann-Maree Wolff, the head of tax at Rio Tinto for the Australia and Asia-Pacific region.
“This Board is brimful of business people and lawyers from the big legal firms,” Mr Smith told Working Life. Click here and have a look for yourself on The Taxation Board’s very own website.
“We believe it’s big business and their Coalition mates who need the PR and education: fair tax for all,” says the ASU.
“We suspect that if the Board had equal representation from the broader community, their advice might sound a little different.”
