CANBERRA
Facebook, Google and other multinational companies are now paying tax in Australia based on their Australian profits instead of shifting income to low-tax countries since the government cracked down on such tax avoidance, the treasurer said Tuesday.
Australia will take in an extra 2 billion Australian dollars ($1.5 billion) in tax from multinational giants in the current fiscal year because of the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law, which took effect in late 2015, Treasurer Scott Morrison told Parliament.
The government had given the Australian Taxation Office “the power, the resources and the penalties to get the job done,” Morrison said.
“Facebook ... are now booking their Australian revenue in Australia, not in Ireland,” he said, adding the multinational companies were abandoning contrived structures and restructuring their models to show sales booked in Australia.
Australian tax authorities were currently conducting 71 audits involving 59 major global corporations, Morrison said.
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Google declined to comment.
