Treasurer Jim Chalmers is set to hand down within days a discussion paper on how the new government will crack down on tax avoidance by multinational companies.
Dr Chalmers said he would release the discussion paper “in the next day or two” as part of public consultation on possible new measures.
“They are our priority, and they will be hopefully implemented as we described them in the election campaign,” he told parliament on Thursday.
“If the consultation process brings to our attention some issues around the implementation of that promise, then we will take that seriously.”
The government went to the election promising to support a global 15 per cent minimum tax on the profits made by some of the largest multinationals, as well as limiting deductions that they can claim on interest payments.
Labor also promised to limit the ability of multinationals to abuse tax treaties in Australia while holding intellectual property in tax havens.
The minimum of 15 per cent tax on multinationals was part of the OECD framework that was endorsed by Australia and other G20 nations last year.
Dr Chalmers said the government intended to take meaningful action on multinational tax avoidance.
“It is too easy for multinational corporations to move their debt or profits around the world in a way that sells countries short,” he said.
“(It) makes it harder for us to fund the things that we really care about, health care and education and all of those federal government programs that we need to fund.”
It comes after Rio Tinto handed over almost $1 billion in taxes to the ATO last month, following a decade-long dispute with the tax office.
The settlement in relation to an investigation of Rio Tinto’s Singapore marketing hub was one of the largest in Australian tax history.
It followed in the path of other multinationals forced to pay up, including Google, BHP, Apple and Microsoft.
