Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury has today announced the members of the specialist reference group on multinational corporate taxation.
The formation of this group, made up of business representatives, tax professionals, academics and the community sector, is the first step in Treasury's examination of multinational tax minimisation strategies and its risks to the sustainability of Australia's corporate tax base.
"The way companies do business is changing and we need to ensure that international tax systems keep pace," said Mr Bradbury.
"I have asked Treasury, led by Revenue Group head Rob Heferen, to begin work on a scoping paper that will set out the risks to the sustainability of Australia's corporate tax base from multinational tax minimisation strategies and identify potential responses.
"The specialist reference group will feed into that process, with Treasury drawing on members' knowledge and expertise.
"We don't want to see a future where hard-working Australian families and businesses have to pay disproportionately high taxes because multinational corporations are not pulling their weight.
"We need to make sure that we are doing everything possible through our domestic laws to keep up with the changing nature of global commerce in the information age.
"More importantly, Governments all around the world need to re-examine many of the key rules of international taxation, which are not keeping up with the changing business models and tax planning arrangements of many multinational companies."
Members have been appointed to the group in their personal capacity, based on their high level of expertise in this area, rather than as representatives of particular organisations.
A key role of the specialist reference group - and the key focus of the Treasury paper - will be to build community understanding of the nature of the challenges we face.
In addition to the meetings of the specialist reference group, Treasury will also consult directly with interested stakeholders.
The first of several meetings of the reference group will be in February. The Government will release the Treasury scoping paper for public consultation in mid‑2013.
Attachment
Specialist Reference Group Member
Rob Heferen (Chair)
Executive Director, Revenue Group
The Treasury
Michael Bersten
Partner
PwC
Michael D'Ascenzo AO
Expert in tax policy and administration
Commissioner of Taxation (2006 - 2012)
Frank Drenth
Executive Director
Corporate Tax Association of Australia
Serena Lillywhite
Mining Advocacy Coordinator
OxFam Australia
Ross Lyons
General Manager - Tax, Asia Pacific
Rio Tinto
Tim Lyons
Assistant Secretary
ACTU
Peter Madden
Partner
Deloitte
Jason Sharman
Director, Centre for Governance and Public Policy
Griffith University
Greg Smith
Adjunct Professor, Australian Catholic University
Senior Fellow, The Melbourne Law Masters
Tony Stolarek
Partner
Ernst & Young
Niv Tadmore
Partner
Clayton Utz
Brian Wilson
Chair
Foreign Investment Review Board
Mark Zirnsak
Director, Justice and International Mission Unit
Uniting Church