MFA, along with other financial services and fund industry associations, submitted a joint trade association comment letter to Australia’s House of Representatives regarding the proposal to require multinational tax transparency through public country-by-country reporting. The associations highlight their concerns that the proposed rule lacks fairness in informing the public about a company’s actual tax position. It may not achieve transparency as intended and could create inconsistencies in reporting across different jurisdictions. This could undermine global coordination, significantly harm companies by forcing them to disclose sensitive commercial information to competitors, and potentially mislead the public.
In the letter, the associations express strong support for disclosing information that enables informed investment decisions and tax compliance. However, the associations point out that the current proposal lacks a balance between these goals and the legitimate business need to keep certain competitive information confidential. The letter provides specific recommendations to ensure that Australia (and other jurisdictions considering similar legislation) remains an attractive market for business and capital investment.
