'ISIS' approach needed to tackle corporate tax avoidance, senator says

Australia and its western allies should take on tax avoidance in an attack similar to its Islamic State approach, senator Bill Heffernan says.

Liberal senator Bill Heffernan

Liberal senator Bill Heffernan. (AAP)

The Liberal senator said the problem of corporate tax avoidance across multiple countries was a threat that should be tackled by a collective effort from affected nations, the ABC has reported.

“It will take a concerted effort by a group of nations, bit like the present ISIS problem – you’ve got to get a group of nations together,” he said.

“Some tax law is like a telegram, it’s out of date. The law has been outsmarted by technology.”

His comments came ahead of public hearings into corporate tax avoidance on Wednesday, when senator Sam Dastayri will lead the quizzing of technology companies Apple, Microsoft and Google on how they structure their finances.

Senator Dastyari said some companies have complicated internal structure, telling the ABC’s Lateline program that some companies juggled finances by "moving profits around" and charging internal fees.

“The truth is this is a cat and a mouse game,” he said.

“You have to keep coming up with new innovative laws.”

The public hearings will be held in Sydney.


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