CANBERRA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- One third of companies in Australia are still paying no tax despite the Australian Taxation Office's (ATO) crackdown on multinationals, according to the ATO.
The ATO on Thursday published its fifth annual report on corporate tax transparency, showing 32 percent of the 2,200 companies paid no tax in financial year 2017/18.
According to the report 2,200 entities operating in Australia paid a combined total of 52.3 billion Australian dollars (35.9 billion U.S. dollars) in income tax.
"These are a good set of numbers," ATO Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Saint told the Guardian Australia on Thursday.
She said more than 7 billion Australian dollars of sales income was now being booked in Australia as a result of companies restructuring in response to the federal government's tougher anti-avoidance laws, including the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law.
The ATO is aiming to improve voluntary compliance with tax law in the corporate sector from 92 to 94 percent, she said.
"We are still challenging corporates and ourselves to improve that voluntary compliance even further," Saint said.
