Outcomes of the G20 Summit

With the completion of the G20 Leaders Summit in Brisbane, koalas and other cuddly fauna can rest easy once more.

But what were the meeting outcomes? For the keen beans, you can read the entire communiqué here.

With respect to tax, the leaders committed that profits should be taxed where economic activities deriving the profits are performed and where value is created. They also committed to finalising work on the OECD BEPS Action Plan in 2015, including transparency of taxpayer-specific rulings found to constitute harmful tax practices. Finally, there was broad endorsement of the global Common Reporting Standard for the automatic exchange of tax information.

There is clearly much more work to be done next year and beyond. Australia must continue to work closely with other G20 nations and the OECD on the BEPS action items to ensure that our tax laws are keeping pace with global business practices.

The OECD's work, once completed and depending on the exact nature of what is incorporated into Australia's domestic law and treaty networks, has the potential to impact on corporations of any size. Tax practitioners advising inbound and outbound clients are no doubt keeping a close watch on these developments.

Robert Jeremenko CTA is Senior Tax Counsel of The Tax Institute.

The Tax Institute is Australia’s leading professional association in tax. Its 13,000 members include tax agents, accountants and lawyers as well as tax practitioners in corporations, government and academia.

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