If more proof were needed that the Business Council of Australia has abandoned advocacy in the national interest, today’s breathtaking defence of tax avoidance by chief executive Jennifer Westacott delivers it in spades. It’s now clear the BCA operates purely in the interests of big business.
This morning the Australian Financial Review’s star investigative reporter Neil Chenoweth, working on a 28,000-page cache of documents leaked to the International Centre for Investigative Journalism, has sensationally exposed Australian businesses that use Luxembourg as a tax haven, including the Future Fund, AMP, Lend Lease and Macquarie Group and others. Tax commissioner Chris Jordan has vowed to investigate.
There is no more important agenda item at next week’s meeting of G20 leaders in Brisbane than measures to tackle so-called base erosion and profit shifting, or the avoidance of tax by multinational companies who are threatening the revenue of governments worldwide.
But today the BCA and Westacott are pushing back on any G20 tax crackdown lest it undermine “investment, innovation and entrepeneurialism”.
“We should acknowledge the contribution made by business,” urges Westacott, “more than $70 billion of company tax is expected to be collected this year”.
The BCA has already walked away from a rational contribution to climate policy and plumped for an industry policy that would take Australia back to the bad old days of picking winners.
Such narrow advocacy of a big business agenda is bad policy — and ultimately bad politics.
6 thoughts on “Crikey says: big business must pull its weight”
Dogs breakfast
November 6, 2014 at 3:13 pm$70 billion dollar contribution. So what did the mug PAYE taxpayer contribute? Multiples of that no doubt.
The tax shifting practices of multi-nationals directly disadvantages business in Australia, as a much lower tax rate would be viable if they all paid it.
Multi-national entities barely or not paying tax directly disadvantages the tax paying national companies, surely one of the major constituents of the BCA.
Or are they just representing the tax-shifters.
Cutting their nose to spite their face.
Not part of Team Australia, that’s for sure.
CML
November 6, 2014 at 4:30 pmSo, what else is new???
This lot don’t give two hoots who pays what tax, as long as it’s NOT them!
As you say, this practice is threatening government revenue world-wide. Time the pollies took meaningful action and clamped down on these hypocrites.
All this government have done so far, is increase the burden on those least able to afford it – the celebrated budget, for example!!
klewso
November 6, 2014 at 5:13 pmWhat else do these greedy, grasping overpaid fat cats drive besides their own agenda?
And who leaked this – wouldn’t Brandis like to get his claws into them?
Bill Hilliger
November 6, 2014 at 5:17 pmTo Joe “Cigar” Hockey and Matthias “de Labor party fault / did it” Conman, please note many BCA member are leaners. Not just the Australian voting sheeples.
AR
November 7, 2014 at 9:54 amOh those altruists – “investment, innovation and entrepeneurialism” the investment is tax deductible, the innovation is in new, perfectly legal usually, tax dodges and the entrepreneurs are those spruiking the shiny new avoidance scheme.
Ta heaps.
Norman Hanscombe
November 7, 2014 at 9:49 pmThe nonsense talked about the imagined impropriety or worse of institutions which pay only what the laws require is disappointing for anyone who hopes rational analysis of this topic can ever be achieved.
I suspect that the “Evil” corporations really have much in common re taxes with many of the noble posters. These posters appear to believe they’re willingly paying more in taxes than is required of them by law.
Years ago signs popped up everywhere announcing “Bill Posters is Innocent”. I’m not sure many of the posters on this thread should have the same said about them though.