On December 20, 2016 the Australian Treasury opened a public consultation on draft amendments to the Australian Taxation Administration Act 1953 in order to increase administrative penalties for significant global entities. The amendments increase administrative penalties imposed on companies with global revenue of $1 billion or more who fail to adhere to tax disclosure obligations.

As a result, from July 1, 2017 penalties relating to the lodgment of tax documents to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will be increased by a factor of 100 (in reference to the maximum penalty for large entities under the existing law). This will raise the maximum penalty from $4,500 to $450,000, which will encourage multinational companies to meet their reporting obligations. Furthermore from July 1, 2017 penalties relating to making false and misleading statements to the ATO will be doubled, which is aimed at discouraging multinational companies from being reckless or careless in their tax affairs.

The Australian Treasury has published the submissions it received on the consultation. According to the Australian Treasury it received 6 submissions. Submissions were received from:

·   The Australian Financial Markets Association

·   The Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand

·   The Corporate Tax Association

·   EY

·   PwC

·   Tax Justice Network Australia

Click here to be forwarded to the website of the Australian Treasury where you can find the Expoure Draft and Explanatory material. The page also contains a link to the page where one can find links to the submissions received on the consultation.

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