Tax office will ‘camp out’ at multinational offices in bid to clamp down on tax minimisation

The Australian Tax Office has told Mumbrella it will leave no stone unturned in its quest to force multinationals to pay the correct amount of tax as it confirmed 10 companies are being probed by auditors.

Google is reportedly one of the firms under scrutiny as pressure mounts on multinationals to cease their tax minimisation practices. Commissioner Chris Jordan warned businesses the ATO will “camp out your offices” in a bid to uncover suspected tax minimisation.

The ATO declined to identify the 10 companies but said it will step up efforts to ensure businesses pay tax in Australia on locally-earned income.

Companies like Google have been repeatedly criticised by local media owners for carving out a huge chunk of advertising revenues from the Australian market and then taking it offshore, paying down the amount of tax going back into the economy at the same time.