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PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) said this week that it would continue to work closely with other tax administrations to share intelligence in the wake of the so-called Paradise Papers release.
The ATO also said that it had started analysing intelligence to identify possible Australian links.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) revealed information regarding offshore law firm Appleby, as well as the use of cross-currency interest rate swaps.
The swaps are used to transform interest payments in one currency into another currency. While the practice is lawful, tax authorities have raised concerns that multinational companies could be using the swaps as a way to shift profits from high to low tax jurisdictions.
Mining major Glencore has been implicated in the Paradise Papers, with the ICIJ claiming cross currency swaps of up to $25-billion.
Glencore this week stated that the company complied with its tax obligations in line with the laws and regulations in the countries and territories in which it operates.
“We provide public disclosure of our economic contributions, including our tax, royalty and other payments to governments. In 2016, Glencore paid $4-billion in taxes and royalties to our host governments,” the company pointed out.
The ATO’s deputy commissioner international, Mark Konza, said this week that the ATO was anticipating further data to be published by ICIJ.
“We know and trust that most people do the right thing, and that many taxpayers identified as part of the leak will be meeting their Australian tax obligations. However, we investigate all leads and have the resources and expertise to take action against taxpayers or intermediaries found to be caught up in the illegal use of offshore structures or providers,” he said.