Fears of kidnapping and executives being held to ransom have prompted the federal government to change tax disclosure laws.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott told the coalition party room at a meeting on Tuesday the government would act on a proposal which was flagged last year.
Under tax transparency laws, which passed under the Labor government, the tax commissioner would from July this year begin publishing the tax details of about 1600 public and private companies with $100 million or more annual turnover.
It would include tax information on many wealthy Australians such as mining magnates.
The first round of information would include about 700 Australian companies' taxable income, total income and tax paid for the 2013/14 financial year.
The coalition meeting was told - in a discussion involving Mr Abbott and Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg - that many business owners fear the publication could increase the risk of them being kidnapped and held for ransom.
It could also put about 700 privately-held Australian companies at a commercial disadvantage to their overseas counterparts.
Mr Frydenberg told the meeting he had real concerns about the publication of data relating to the Australian firms and believed they should be exempted from the laws.
"Let's advance that," Mr Abbott told the meeting.
Labor shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh said rolling back the laws will shield multinational firms from public scrutiny.
"Without transparent tax reporting, it will be easier for some big firms to continue to avoid paying their fair share of tax," he said.
Dr Leigh said the government liked to talk about cracking down on tax avoidance.
"But they consistently let companies off the hook," he said.
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