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Australia is a member of, and contributor to, a number of international forums that concentrate on tax issues, including:
- relevant OECD groups
- the Leeds Castle group
- the seven-country working group on tax havens
- the Joint International Tax Shelter Information Centre
- the financial action taskforce on money laundering.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Australia is a member of the OECD's Committee on Fiscal Affairs, which was established to bring together senior tax officials from all OECD member governments. We are part of a working party established by the committee to monitor all matters covering tax avoidance and evasion. The working party looks at legal, policy and administrative aspects of tax evasion and avoidance, particularly exchange of information, unfair tax competition, new technologies and compliance programs.
We are also a member of the OECD's Forum on Harmful Tax Practices, which aims to eliminate harmful tax practices from both OECD member countries and non-member countries (such as tax havens).
Members of the forum have agreed to work together, particularly to explore new tools to help detect international non-compliance.
Other areas where effort will be intensified include developing a directory of tax planning schemes (in order to identify trends and measures to counter such schemes) and improving the training for tax officials on international tax issues.
Leeds Castle group
The Leeds Castle group superseded the Pacific Association of Tax Administrators in 2006.
Group members are Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America (USA).
The commissioners of these tax administrations meet annually to consider issues of global and national tax administration, particularly mutual compliance challenges.
Seven-country working group on tax havens
In this forum, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, the UK and the USA cooperate to improve each country's capacity to deal with the risks tax havens pose to their tax systems. Members bilaterally exchange information at a case and promoter level, share research and information on the schemes encountered and strategies adopted, and conduct joint training sessions.
Common issues affecting all members of the seven-country group are the use of e-commerce, the internet and credit or debit cards in abusive tax haven arrangements, intangibles, offshore banking and brokerage, promoters of abusive tax haven agreements and the use of international business companies.
Members of the forum issue international tax alerts to other members. The alerts share experiences about tax haven countries and tax-motivated transactions and schemes. Alerts issued to date have covered a wide variety of topics, including offshore re-invoicing, deferred consideration financing and offshore private annuities.
Joint International Tax Shelter Information Centre
The tax administrations of Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA established the Joint International Tax Shelter Information Centre (JITSIC) in Washington in 2004.
The aim was to supplement the ongoing work of identifying and curbing tax avoidance and shelters and those who promote and invest in them.
Japan joined the group in 2007 when a second JITSIC office opened in London.
Financial action taskforce on money laundering
We know a number of tax havens have been used by money launderers. The financial action taskforce on money laundering develops and promotes national and international policies to combat money laundering. It monitors members' progress in implementing anti-money laundering measures, reviews money laundering techniques and counter measures, and promotes the adoption and implementation of anti-money laundering measures globally. The taskforce collaborates with other international bodies involved in combating money laundering.
The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 introduced additional reporting of suspicious matters.
Sections within How we deal with tax haven arrangements
Last Modified: Tuesday, 18 October 2011