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senate vote 2015-12-03#8
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2015-12-24 12:54:06
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Title
Description
- The majority voted for this [amendent](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2015-12-03.192.1), which was introduced by Greens Senator [Richard Di Natale](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/victoria/richard_di_natale), which means it was successful.
- ### What was the amendment?
- The amendment introduced new provisions that mean that Australian companies with a total annual income of $200 million or more will have to report certain tax information so it becomes public. That information includes the company's [ABN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Business_Number), its total annual income, its taxable income and its tax payable.
- The Labor Party opposed this amendment and said the threshold should be $100 million.
- Liberal Senator [Cory Bernardi](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/sa/cory_bernardi) rebelled against his colleagues (which is known as [crossing the floor](http://www.peo.gov.au/learning/fact-sheets/crossing-the-floor.html)) and voted against this amendment because [he believed](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g164.1) it went against a policy his party room had previously agreed on.
- ### What made this amendment controversial?
- Even though the Greens Party earlier agreed with the Labor Party that the threshold should be $100 million, they made an agreement with the Coalition Government to support a higher $200 million threshold. They did this because they thought it was better than nothing. Read [ABC News](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-03/coalition-and-greens-strike-deal-on-multi-national-tax-avoidance/6997328) for more information.
- The Labor Party were not pleased.
- ### What does the bill do?
The [bill](http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:legislation/billhome/r5549) strengthens the laws against [tax avoidance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_avoidance) for certain multinational entities. It introduces anti-avoidance measures to deal with companies with annual global income of more than $A1 billion that use schemes to avoid having a taxable presence in Australia.- The [bill](http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:legislation/billhome/r5549) strengthens the laws against [tax avoidance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_avoidance) for certain companies. For example, it introduces anti-avoidance measures to deal with [multinational companies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multinational_corporation) with an annual global income of more than $A1 billion that use schemes to avoid having to pay tax in Australia or at least reduce that tax to a minimum.
To learn more about the bill, see the [bills digest](http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd1516a/16bd045).- To learn more about the bill, see the [bills digest](http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd1516a/16bd045).
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senate vote 2015-12-03#8
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2015-12-24 12:32:35
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Title
Description
- The majority voted for this [amendent](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2015-12-03.192.1), which was introduced by Greens Senator [Richard Di Natale](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/victoria/richard_di_natale), which means it was successful.
- ### What was the amendment?
- The amendment introduced new provisions that mean that Australian companies with a total annual income of $200 million or more will have to report certain tax information so it becomes public. That information includes the company's [ABN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Business_Number), its total annual income, its taxable income and its tax payable.
- The Labor Party opposed this amendment and said the threshold should be $100 million.
Senator Cory Bernardi rebelled against his colleagues (which is known as [crossing the floor](http://www.peo.gov.au/learning/fact-sheets/crossing-the-floor.html)) and voted against this amendment because [he believed](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g164.1) it went against a policy his party room had previously agreed on.- Liberal Senator [Cory Bernardi](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/sa/cory_bernardi) rebelled against his colleagues (which is known as [crossing the floor](http://www.peo.gov.au/learning/fact-sheets/crossing-the-floor.html)) and voted against this amendment because [he believed](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g164.1) it went against a policy his party room had previously agreed on.
- ### What made this amendment controversial?
- Even though the Greens Party earlier agreed with the Labor Party that the threshold should be $100 million, they made an agreement with the Coalition Government to support a higher $200 million threshold. They did this because they thought it was better than nothing. Read [ABC News](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-03/coalition-and-greens-strike-deal-on-multi-national-tax-avoidance/6997328) for more information.
- The Labor Party were not pleased.
- ### What does the bill do?
- The [bill](http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:legislation/billhome/r5549) strengthens the laws against [tax avoidance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_avoidance) for certain multinational entities. It introduces anti-avoidance measures to deal with companies with annual global income of more than $A1 billion that use schemes to avoid having a taxable presence in Australia.
- To learn more about the bill, see the [bills digest](http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd1516a/16bd045).
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senate vote 2015-12-03#8
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2015-12-24 12:32:06
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Title
Bills — Tax Laws Amendment (Combating Multinational Tax Avoidance) Bill 2015 — Agree to transparency amendment- Tax Laws Amendment (Combating Multinational Tax Avoidance) Bill 2015 - in Committee - Tax information of companies earning over $200m
Description
In this division the majority of Senators agreed to include the amendments by Greens Senator Richard Di Natale in this bill. [He said](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g173.1) that his amendments:- The majority voted for this [amendent](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2015-12-03.192.1), which was introduced by Greens Senator [Richard Di Natale](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/victoria/richard_di_natale), which means it was successful.
>_[require] multinationals with a turnover of over $1 billion to ensure that they file detailed general purpose accounts._- ### What was the amendment?
Which means they must be transparent about their financial accounts, including how much tax they have paid.- The amendment introduced new provisions that mean that Australian companies with a total annual income of $200 million or more will have to report certain tax information so it becomes public. That information includes the company's [ABN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Business_Number), its total annual income, its taxable income and its tax payable.
## Bill summary- The Labor Party opposed this amendment and said the threshold should be $100 million.
The _Tax Laws Amendment (Combating Multinational Tax Avoidance) Bill 2015_ strengthens the tax avoidance law for certain multinational entities. It introduces anti-avoidance measures to deal with companies with annual global income exceeding $A1 billion that put in place schemes to avoid having a taxable presence in Australia.- Senator Cory Bernardi rebelled against his colleagues (which is known as [crossing the floor](http://www.peo.gov.au/learning/fact-sheets/crossing-the-floor.html)) and voted against this amendment because [he believed](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g164.1) it went against a policy his party room had previously agreed on.
## Views- ### What made this amendment controversial?
[Mathias Cormann said](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g174.1) of the coalition's decision to vote for the Greens amendments:- Even though the Greens Party earlier agreed with the Labor Party that the threshold should be $100 million, they made an agreement with the Coalition Government to support a higher $200 million threshold. They did this because they thought it was better than nothing. Read [ABC News](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-03/coalition-and-greens-strike-deal-on-multi-national-tax-avoidance/6997328) for more information.
>_We would have preferred if this bill had passed unamended, but, in order to facilitate the passage of this important piece of legislation tonight, the government have agreed not to oppose this amendment moved by Senator Di Natale._- The Labor Party were not pleased.
Cory Bernardi rebelled against his colleagues and voted against this amendment because [he believed](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g164.1) it went against a policy his party room had previously agreed on.- ### What does the bill do?
The Labor party voted against the amendment because [they considered](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g147.7) them weaker than the previously agreed amendment to, "_...bring the tax transparency threshold back to $100 million for all companies..._", that had been subsequently rejected by the House of Representatives.- The [bill](http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:legislation/billhome/r5549) strengthens the laws against [tax avoidance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_avoidance) for certain multinational entities. It introduces anti-avoidance measures to deal with companies with annual global income of more than $A1 billion that use schemes to avoid having a taxable presence in Australia.
- To learn more about the bill, see the [bills digest](http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd1516a/16bd045).
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senate vote 2015-12-03#8
Edited by
Henare Degan
on
2015-12-10 12:33:58
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Title
Bills — Tax Laws Amendment (Combating Multinational Tax Avoidance) Bill 2015; in Committee- Bills — Tax Laws Amendment (Combating Multinational Tax Avoidance) Bill 2015 — Agree to transparency amendment
Description
- In this division the majority of Senators agreed to include the amendments by Greens Senator Richard Di Natale in this bill. [He said](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g173.1) that his amendments:
- >_[require] multinationals with a turnover of over $1 billion to ensure that they file detailed general purpose accounts._
- Which means they must be transparent about their financial accounts, including how much tax they have paid.
- ## Bill summary
- The _Tax Laws Amendment (Combating Multinational Tax Avoidance) Bill 2015_ strengthens the tax avoidance law for certain multinational entities. It introduces anti-avoidance measures to deal with companies with annual global income exceeding $A1 billion that put in place schemes to avoid having a taxable presence in Australia.
In this division the majority of Senators agreed to include the amendments by Greens Senator Richard Di Natale. [He said](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g173.1) that his amendments, "_[require] multinationals with a turnover of over $1 billion to ensure that they file detailed general purpose accounts._"- ## Views
- [Mathias Cormann said](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g174.1) of the coalition's decision to vote for the Greens amendments:
- >_We would have preferred if this bill had passed unamended, but, in order to facilitate the passage of this important piece of legislation tonight, the government have agreed not to oppose this amendment moved by Senator Di Natale._
[Mathias Cormann said](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g174.1) of the coalition's decision to vote for the amendments:- Cory Bernardi rebelled against his colleagues and voted against this amendment because [he believed](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g164.1) it went against a policy his party room had previously agreed on.
>_We would have preferred if this bill had passed unamended, but, in order to facilitate the passage of this important piece of legislation tonight, the government have agreed not to oppose this amendment moved by Senator Di Natale._- The Labor party voted against the amendment because [they considered](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g147.7) them weaker than the previously agreed amendment to, "_...bring the tax transparency threshold back to $100 million for all companies..._", that had been subsequently rejected by the House of Representatives.
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senate vote 2015-12-03#8
Edited by
Henare Degan
on
2015-12-10 10:52:04
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Title
Description
- The _Tax Laws Amendment (Combating Multinational Tax Avoidance) Bill 2015_ strengthens the tax avoidance law for certain multinational entities. It introduces anti-avoidance measures to deal with companies with annual global income exceeding $A1 billion that put in place schemes to avoid having a taxable presence in Australia.
In this division the majority of Senators agreed to include the amendments by Greens Senator Richard Di Natale.- In this division the majority of Senators agreed to include the amendments by Greens Senator Richard Di Natale. [He said](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g173.1) that his amendments, "_[require] multinationals with a turnover of over $1 billion to ensure that they file detailed general purpose accounts._"
- [Mathias Cormann said](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2015-12-03.146.2#g174.1) of the coalition's decision to vote for the amendments:
- >_We would have preferred if this bill had passed unamended, but, in order to facilitate the passage of this important piece of legislation tonight, the government have agreed not to oppose this amendment moved by Senator Di Natale._
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senate vote 2015-12-03#8
Edited by
Henare Degan
on
2015-12-10 10:40:04
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Title
Description
The _Tax Laws Amendment (Combating Multinational Tax Avoidance) Bill 2015_ strengthens the tax avoidance law for certain multinational entities. It introduces anti-avoidance measures to deal with companies with annual global income exceeding $A1 billion that put in place schemes to avoid having a taxable presence in Australia.- The _Tax Laws Amendment (Combating Multinational Tax Avoidance) Bill 2015_ strengthens the tax avoidance law for certain multinational entities. It introduces anti-avoidance measures to deal with companies with annual global income exceeding $A1 billion that put in place schemes to avoid having a taxable presence in Australia.
- In this division the majority of Senators agreed to include the amendments by Greens Senator Richard Di Natale.
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senate vote 2015-12-03#8
Edited by
Henare Degan
on
2015-12-10 10:34:51
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Title
Description
## Bill summary- The _Tax Laws Amendment (Combating Multinational Tax Avoidance) Bill 2015_ strengthens the tax avoidance law for certain multinational entities. It introduces anti-avoidance measures to deal with companies with annual global income exceeding $A1 billion that put in place schemes to avoid having a taxable presence in Australia.
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senate vote 2015-12-03#8
Edited by
Henare Degan
on
2015-12-10 10:34:33
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Title
Description
<p class="speaker">Richard Di Natale</p><p>I move the following amendment:</p><p class="italic">At the end of the motion, add: 'but agrees to amendments (1) and (3), circulated in my name on sheet 7836, which replaces amendment 3 with which the House has disagreed.'</p>- ## Bill summary
- The _Tax Laws Amendment (Combating Multinational Tax Avoidance) Bill 2015_ strengthens the tax avoidance law for certain multinational entities. It introduces anti-avoidance measures to deal with companies with annual global income exceeding $A1 billion that put in place schemes to avoid having a taxable presence in Australia.
<p class="italic"> <i>Australian Greens circulated amendments—</i></p><p class="italic">(1) Schedule 1, page 7 (before line 10), before item 5, insert:</p><p class="italic">4A Paragraphs 3C(1)(a) and (b)</p><p class="italic">  Repeal the paragraphs, substitute:</p><p class="italic">  (a) the entity has total income equal to or exceeding $100 million for the income year and, at the end of the income year:</p><p class="italic">     (i) the entity is not an Australian resident that is a private company for the income year; or</p><p class="italic">     (ii) the entity is a member of a wholly-owned group that has a foreign resident ultimate holding company; or</p><p class="italic">     (iii) the percentage of foreign shareholding in the entity is greater than 50%; or</p><p class="italic">  (b) the entity has total income equal to or exceeding $200 million for the income year and, at the end of the income year, the entity is an Australian resident that is a private company for the income year.</p><p class="italic">(3) Schedule 1, page 7 (after line 21), at the end of the Schedule, add:</p><p class="italic">6 Application of amendment—item 4A</p><p class="italic">     The amendment made by item 4A applies in relation to an entity for the 2013-14 income year and each later income year.</p> <p class="speaker">Sam Dastyari</p><p>Again, there is no point at all in articulating the cases that have already been articulated, I think quite extensively, but I want to explain what it is that this amendment will be doing and why the Labor Party will be voting against this amendment. This is the amendment that will, in effect, replace what we have been insisting on—which is the $100 million threshold—with the $200 million threshold. This changes the question that is going to be before us. This is the sell-out. This is the cop-out. We have discussed the reasons why we will be opposing it. I just want to make it very clear that that is what this amendment does, and that is why the Labor Party will not be supporting it.</p> <p class="speaker">Richard Di Natale</p><p>To clarify, this is an amendment that would mean that now 281 companies that do not have to disclose their tax affairs, Australian private companies—Transfield, Grocon, Inghams chicken, Pratt Holdings, Meriton and so on—now have to—</p> <p class="speaker">Sam Dastyari</p><p>Rather than 900?</p> <p class="speaker">Richard Di Natale</p><p>Well, 281 is bigger than zero, Senator Dastyari. If you think this amendment is meaningless, I think the fact that Senator Bernardi has already said that he will be crossing the floor and voting with the Labor Party tells you everything you need to know. The fact that Senator Bernardi came into this chamber a little earlier, stood up and said that he cannot in good faith support an amendment that means that 281 private companies now need to disclose their tax affairs tells you everything you need to know. So you will now have Senator Bernardi joining the Labor Party in shielding the tax affairs of 281 companies. How does it feel? How does it feel to be sitting on the benches next to Senator Bernardi, saying: 'We want to shield 281 companies from disclosing how much tax they pay'? There is a lot more that I could say, but we have ventilated all of the arguments. I think the most telling one is that, when you have the Labor Party and Senator Bernardi together, you do not need to say anything else.</p> <p class="speaker">Sam Dastyari</p><p>I need to clarify the record here: 10 times today you have voted with Senator Bernardi. Ten times today you have voted with him. This is a deal that is so bad that even Senator Bernardi has issues with it. That is how bad it is. How low can you go?</p><p>The CHAIRMAN: The question is Senator Di Natale's amendments (1) and (3) on sheet 7836 be agreed to.</p>
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