SAB Miller, the world’s second biggest brewer, has been accused of tax dodging. Anti-poverty agency ActionAid Australia has sent a copy of a report detailing the allegations to the Foreign Investment Review Board.

ActionAid’s report Calling Time: Why SAB Miller should stop dodging taxes in Africa reveals how the brewer uses a complex system of tax havens to siphon profits out of subsidiaries.

“We think the Foreign Investment Review Board will be very interested in our report given SAB Miller has a track record of buying out companies, then shifting the profits it makes into tax havens,” said ActionAid Australia’s Campaign Coordinator Jon Edwards.

“The Government ought to be asking SAB Miller about their tax practices to see what steps they have taken to ensure fairer tax revenue in the developing countries in which it operates.

“The Treasurer and the FIRB ought to encourage multinational companies that want to invest in Australia to adopt best practice tax policies which give a fair go to the populations which rely on those taxes to pay for their essential public services like schools, hospitals and roads.

Mr Edwards said one way in which SAB Miller shifts profits between countries is by transferring valuable trademarks to tax havens and licensing the use of those trademarks to subsidiary companies.

“VB, Cascade and Crown Lager are iconic Australian beer brands. It is a legitimate concern for the Australian Government to ask what will happen to the ownership of these brands if this sale proceeds,” said Mr Edwards.