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"New regulations, announced in 2015 and to be implemented from July 2017, require overseas businesses with an Australian annual turnover of $75,000 or more to c

"New regulations, announced in 2015 and to be implemented from July 2017, require overseas businesses with an Australian annual turnover of $75,000 or more to collect GST on all goods, including those under the current $1000 low-value threshold " It's not the fact the Aus government collecting tax is bad, remember Apple, Google and a slew of other companies are recognised corporate tax cheats, it's the fact this legislation can be used as a tool to ^ban^ more of the Internet.

tnicks 10y ago
>"...remember Apple, Google and a slew of other companies are recognised corporate tax cheats..." I fail to see how one can make this assertion without any citations. Apple has paid over 19B in tax expenses in 2015 [1]. Alphabet(Google) has paid over 3B[2]. No other company I could find came remotely close to Apple's level. For some perspective, their tax expense is greater than 44% of the world's countries GDPs[3]. If one reads the definition of tax cheat at Investopedia[4] it does not apply to Apple nor Google. You may not like those companies and you may not believe that they pay enough in taxes but this does not connote that they are "recognized tax cheats". [1]https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AAPL/financials?p=AAPL https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AAPL/financials?p=AAPL [2]https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GOOG/financials?p=GOOG https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GOOG/financials?p=GOOG [3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi... [4]http://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tax-cheat.asp http://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tax-cheat.asp
- imron 10y ago
  I'm sure the GP was talking in reference to the amount of tax those companies paid on their Australian business. See for example here: http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/apples-85-million-tax-bill-is-a-fraction-of-its-almost-8-billion-revenue-20160126-gmej0z.html http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/apples-85-million... Google, Microsoft and others are in a similar position. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/apr/08/google-apple-and-microsoft-defend-tax-set-up-that-shifts-revenue-offshore https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/apr/08/googl...
- bootload 10y ago
  "I fail to see how one can make this assertion without any citations." The truth shall set you free. * http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/Corporate_Tax_Avoidance http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Sena... In the past, a multinational company with a branch in Australia had a local board that was tasked with maximizing profits. But increasingly, Australian operations of multinational companies are becoming agents, shifting revenue offshore specifically to minimize Australian profits. This was evident throughout the inquiry. The American headquartered technology companies run their Australian operations as marketing and distribution companies and shift revenue earned in Australia to other jurisdictions. The legitimacy of these transfers will continue to be a focus of the inquiry. source: "Executive Summary: Background to the interim report" ~ http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/Corporate_Tax_Avoidance/Report%20part%201/b01 http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Sena... and more reporting. * http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/tech-giants-deny-australian-tax-avoidance/6379062 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/tech-giants-deny-austr... * http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/google-apple-microsoft-deny-tax-avoidance-senate-inquiry/6379024 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/google-apple-microsoft... * http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/senate-tax-inquiry-google-apple-microsoft-policies-highlight-golden-days-of-tax-laxness-20150410-1mi9k9.html http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/senate... * http://www.sbs.com.au/news/storystream/corporate-tax-crackdown-hockey-rules-out-google-tax http://www.sbs.com.au/news/storystream/corporate-tax-crackdo... * http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/04/07/big-business-set-face-senate-tax-avoidance-inquiry http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/04/07/big-business-s... * http://taxwatch.org.au/2014/page/18/ http://taxwatch.org.au/2014/page/18/

tnicks 10y ago

>"...remember Apple, Google and a slew of other companies are recognised corporate tax cheats..." I fail to see how one can make this assertion without any citations. Apple has paid over 19B in tax expenses in 2015 [1]. Alphabet(Google) has paid over 3B[2]. No other company I could find came remotely close to Apple's level. For some perspective, their tax expense is greater than 44% of the world's countries GDPs[3]. If one reads the definition of tax cheat at Investopedia[4] it does not apply to Apple nor Google. You may not like those companies and you may not believe that they pay enough in taxes but this does not connote that they are "recognized tax cheats". [1]https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AAPL/financials?p=AAPL https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AAPL/financials?p=AAPL [2]https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GOOG/financials?p=GOOG https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GOOG/financials?p=GOOG [3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi... [4]http://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tax-cheat.asp http://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tax-cheat.asp

imron 10y ago
I'm sure the GP was talking in reference to the amount of tax those companies paid on their Australian business. See for example here: http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/apples-85-million-tax-bill-is-a-fraction-of-its-almost-8-billion-revenue-20160126-gmej0z.html http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/apples-85-million... Google, Microsoft and others are in a similar position. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/apr/08/google-apple-and-microsoft-defend-tax-set-up-that-shifts-revenue-offshore https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/apr/08/googl...
bootload 10y ago
"I fail to see how one can make this assertion without any citations." The truth shall set you free. * http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/Corporate_Tax_Avoidance http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Sena... In the past, a multinational company with a branch in Australia had a local board that was tasked with maximizing profits. But increasingly, Australian operations of multinational companies are becoming agents, shifting revenue offshore specifically to minimize Australian profits. This was evident throughout the inquiry. The American headquartered technology companies run their Australian operations as marketing and distribution companies and shift revenue earned in Australia to other jurisdictions. The legitimacy of these transfers will continue to be a focus of the inquiry. source: "Executive Summary: Background to the interim report" ~ http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/Corporate_Tax_Avoidance/Report%20part%201/b01 http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Sena... and more reporting. * http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/tech-giants-deny-australian-tax-avoidance/6379062 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/tech-giants-deny-austr... * http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/google-apple-microsoft-deny-tax-avoidance-senate-inquiry/6379024 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/google-apple-microsoft... * http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/senate-tax-inquiry-google-apple-microsoft-policies-highlight-golden-days-of-tax-laxness-20150410-1mi9k9.html http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/senate... * http://www.sbs.com.au/news/storystream/corporate-tax-crackdown-hockey-rules-out-google-tax http://www.sbs.com.au/news/storystream/corporate-tax-crackdo... * http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/04/07/big-business-set-face-senate-tax-avoidance-inquiry http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/04/07/big-business-s... * http://taxwatch.org.au/2014/page/18/ http://taxwatch.org.au/2014/page/18/