A crackdown on multinational tax dodgers has passed the Senate with significant changes that could propel the Turnbull government's plans into limbo.
The upper house on Wednesday passed a bill that would impose stronger penalties on global entities earning over $1 billion for profit shifting and avoiding Australian taxes.
But two amendments mean its passage through the parliament is anything but guaranteed.
The Greens won support for an amendment which would effectively reverse a recently passed law that exempts Australian-owned companies earning over $100 million from publishing tax information.
That bill passed through the Senate unopposed last month after confusion in the chamber.
The amendment means those companies would again have to publish the information but allows entities to apply to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission for an exemption.
That provision intends to protect smaller companies from competitive disadvantage if larger businesses and suppliers can access their financial information.
Independent senator Nick Xenophon backed the change using the example of Coles and Woolworths gaining more advantage by accessing information about their smaller competitors.
The government previously defended the laws citing concerns that information about an owner's financial position could put them at risk of kidnapping.
Labor, the Greens and independent senators labelled that rubbish.
"It is quite frankly, ridiculous," Senator Xenophon said, adding there was no advice from any law enforcement agency of that risk.
He said the same information could already be obtained from the commission for $38.
On Tuesday, Senator Xenophon won Labor, Greens and crossbench support for another amendment that would force global entities earning more than $1 billion to publish annual financial statements.
Finance Minister Matthias Cormann accused the Senate of delaying the tax crackdown, warning the government wouldn't pass the changes through the House of Representatives.
That would send it back to the Senate to decide whether to insist on the changes.
Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said the government's threat was "immature", while noting similar tactics had failed previously.
Labor senator Sam Dastyari said the warning illustrated the "pathetic, weak and embarrassing" position the government was prepared to take.
The laws, due to start on January 1, would apply to 1000 large multinationals operating in Australia with annual global revenue of $1 billion or more.
They would also introduce country-by-country reporting to give tax authorities greater visibility of multinationals' tax structures.
Labor maintains the measures don't go far enough, but welcomes any tightening of the tax net.
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