A few days back, tech giants Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) questioned the way companies had to pay tax in Australia. Reports claim that Australian Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan has questioned all of those claims.
The Road So Far
Apple and Google stated that 100% of their revenues earned by selling products and services in the country were recognized for tax purposes. While addressing to Senate Committee during a public hearing on Wednesday, he stated about setting up an inquiry against those who wish to avoid corporate tax.
He said that the Australian Taxation Office had looked after such issued very closely and decided to dispute the claims made by a few tech giants such as Google and Apple. As per the reports, these companies made their points public during a public hearing a few days ago.
Jordan stated that mislead might have been a subjective term, but he doesn’t take into account a few comments that were made lately. The ATO has decided to contest the statement given by Apple that all of its revenues generated from selling products in Australia have been recognized for sales objectives. As per the reports, some of the profits have been transferred to low-tax jurisdictions.
Jordan’s opinion is different from one other tech company Microsoft. According to him, ATO is trying to figure out if company’s profits from business done in Australia of around AU$2 billion are earned in Singapore and close to AU$100 million still in the country or not. ATO is trying everything possible to check if it is an appropriate case of revenue split or not.
He also questioned the statement of Google that revenue generated through advertising business in Australia was taxed in Singapore. ATO states that maximum part of the revenue made in Australia ends up not in Singapore but Bermuda where no tax is applicable.
