Implementing BEPS, or Maybe Not - The Australian Experience One Year On
Graeme S. Cooper
University of Sydney - Faculty of Law
October 17, 2016
New Zealand Law Review, 2016 (Forthcoming)
Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 16/91
Abstract:
This Paper examines Australia’s implementation of the BEPS project since the final reports were released in October 2015. The recent history demonstrates a confused picture. On the one hand, some of Australia’s actions have been both quick and supportive, with the government enthusiastic to announce its adherence to the BEPS project, though sometimes with quiet and subtle modifications to features of the OECD models. On the other, there have been projects that are seen by much of the rest of the as world inconsistent with the BEPS project, even if Australian policy-makers try to present them as BEPS-compliant. So while Australia’s politicians might wish to represent our recent tax measures as a form of BEPS cooperation, Australia is at risk of adding to the dangerous current appetite for unilateralist approaches to international tax.
