Australia's biggest companies can keep their tax bills secret for another year after the federal government rejected calls to bring forward laws designed to increase transparency.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann dismissed a push by Labor Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh to bring forward by one year the publication of data about the tax paid by companies with total income over $100 million.
If the bill were passed it would require the Australian Taxation Office to immediately publish on its website information about Australian companies' taxable income, and total income and tax paid for the 2012-13 financial year. The Tax Office can publish the information for both public companies and private businesses.
Mr Leigh said making Australian companies publish exactly how much tax they pay in Australia each year could pressure them to stop profit shifting. The current tax transparency laws, which Labor rushed through Parliament weeks before it lost government, require Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan to start publishing from next year information for the 2013-14 year.
Mr Leigh said Labor moved to bring the laws forward by one year so Australians could immediately see the books of Australia's largest companies and know exactly how much tax multinationals paid. "Greater information disclosure will allow for a more informed public debate, creating an environment for better policy development," he said.
"At the same time, improved transparency promotes trust and credibility in our taxation system while discouraging large multinationals from engaging in aggressive tax avoidance practices."
But Senator Cormann did not agree to bring them forward, instead saying: "Labor in government mismanaged the economy and the budget. Now they're admitting they mismanaged their own tax agenda as well."
Senator Cormann did not respond to Fairfax Media's questions about whether the Coalition would dump the existing laws to begin publishing 2013-14 tax information of Australia's top companies by next year.
Coalition members including Treasurer Joe Hockey, who has been trumpeting the G20 agenda to clamp down on tax avoidance by multinationals, voted against the laws in opposition.
Former assistant treasurer Arthur Sinodinos said in an interview before he stepped down that the Coalition voted that making such information public would mislead the public and "detracts from being well informed about whatever it is we're seeking to uncover".
In Australia at present only two mining companies, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, voluntarily publish reports about how much tax they pay in Australia and around the world. Most companies do not make it easy for the public to find detailed information about their tax affairs.
The laws would not have an impact on US technology companies such as Apple and Google, which have copped the bulk of criticism against multinationals who profit shift, as they are headquartered outside Australia. But some European countries also require certain companies to make their tax information public.
The Tax Office supports local companies being more transparent. Second commissioner Andrew Mills said in a recent interview that companies needed to be open about their tax affairs to avoid damaging their reputation. "Sunlight is a great disinfectant," Mr Mills said in his first interview since taking the Tax Office role in December.
But the main man leading the tax avoidance hunt on behalf of the OECD prefers that such information stays in the hands of government rather than being made public. Head of tax for the OECD, Pascal Saint Amans, told Fairfax Media in an interview ahead of the G20 summit in Brisbane it would be better for tax authorities to collect the information confidentially than risk not getting it at all.
