Australian Tax Commissioner Disputes Claims Of Apple, Google, Microsoft In Senate Hearings

The Australian commissioner has questioned the claims of tech giants. Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan has accused Apple, Google, Microsoft and other multinationals of giving inaccurate evidence to the Senate inquiry.

Mr Jordan said in the inquiry last week that the evidence presented in the hearings did not reflect the reality that the taxes multinationals pay in the country were being contested by the Australian Tax Office. “We do take issue and dispute some of the comments that have been made,” added the commissioner.

In earlier hearings, tech companies Apple, Google and Microsoft admit that they send their profits through “hubs” in Singapore to claim they legally pay lower tax, reports SMH. Jordan said the ATO disputes some of the comments made by the companies, reports AAP.

The ATO is contesting Apple’s earlier statement that all revenue from sales in Australia is recognised for tax purposes. In Microsoft’s case, Jordan said the ATO is trying to verify the company’s statement that profits from its Australian operations are primarily earned in Singapore. “We further understand that much of this Singapore profit paid out as technology fees ends up in Microsoft Bermuda,” said Jordan.

The Australian tax commissioner also questioned Google’s claims of local revenues from advertising being booked and taxed in Singapore. The ATO believes most of Google’s profits in Australia are shifted to Bermuda, where no tax is paid.

Maile Carnegie, managing director of Google Australia, said during the hearing that Google generated $58 million in local revenue in 2013 but it paid taxes worth $7.1 million. However, she admitted most of the company’s taxes were paid in the U.S. Jordan reiterated that the ATO does not accept the statements of tech companies at face value since it is trying to determine whether aggressive tax planning was used.

The ATO also disputed claims of mining companies in earlier hearings. Jordan said Rio Tinto’s claims of paying a 5 percent tax rate out of the $719 million profit from its Singapore hub was questionable. The tax commissioner was critical of BHP corporate affairs president Tony Cudmore’s statement of citing commercial sensitivity for not revealing the figures for its Singapore operations.

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