The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has warned that the nation's attempts at imposing a "Google Tax" are already being circumvented, and suggested big accountancy firms have found a way around efforts to stymie multinational tax avoidance.
Australia's Google Tax, formally known as the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law (MAAL), is modelled on the UK's and imposes penalties on companies that move money offshore for the sole purpose of legally-but-cynically avoiding tax.
[...] Indeed the Office says it's just found a new [technique] it considers "artificial and contrived," as it "involves interposing an entity described as a partnership between the foreign entity originally making supplies to Australian customers, and the Australian customers."
"The partnership has one resident corporate partner with a minority interest in the partnership, therefore purporting to characterise the partnership as an 'Australian entity' for the purposes of the MAAL." But nothing changes in the business' actual operations, and the ATO says: "The arrangements have little, if any, commercial basis."
(Score: 4, Insightful) by edIII on Saturday September 17 2016, @04:24AM
BWAHAHAAHAHAHA!
So, what, the corporations run everything? Every single thing is monetized, including the air you breathe? How does government operate at all?
This isn't 300 years ago when the actual costs of government might be born by the rich members of the society serving at their leisure, being independently wealthy. These are advanced societies in which the infrastructure alone required to maintain it necessitates the creation, of at least one, socialist entity.
Fucking duh. You would never want anything as important and critical as infrastructure to be run by private hands, wishing for nothing but profit. There are very clearly at least a couple of major details we would wish to be run by *all* of us as a *whole*. Other than the tired old complaints about corruption in government requiring these things done by private hands, of which it never explains how it will be better, there is no reason to not strongly socialize some aspects of our society. Transportation, water, electricity, and Internet really are 4 things that should handled by all of us collectively.
So, unless you want to rely on donations for that nice pretty road you drive on, you're going to require a tax rate above 0%.
Either that or you believe that private enterprise can handle ALL aspects of governance. If that is true, I have these 3 magic beans to sell you.....
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 17 2016, @08:44AM
They took away the guns in Australia so it's not even worth bothering to talk about any of this.
(Score: 1) by baldrick on Saturday September 17 2016, @09:06AM
correct ... that is why drumpf does not exhort Australians to shoot hillary
... I obey the Laws of Physics
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 17 2016, @12:04PM
You need to have a closer look at the fauna and flora around here. Guns are not required.
Bloody yanky pansies.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 17 2016, @12:09PM
So, we defend ourselves with gumleaves and wallabies?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 17 2016, @03:44PM
Drop bear army.