Company tax could be slashed to 20 per cent for firms with revenue below $1 billion, but businesses would be hit with a world-first “cashflow tax” to encourage them to invest in Australia and capture a share of the enormous earnings of tech giants such as Netflix and Apple.
The commission estimates its plan would deliver an estimated $15 billion boost to the economy.
While cashflow taxes have won support among academics, no country has introduced one to replace traditional company tax.
Proponents argue they are more difficult for large companies to avoid, particularly multinationals that may sell intellectual property or move debt between their international subsidiaries to reduce their overall tax burden.
Tech giants such as Apple, which in 2022-23 paid $141 million in tax on $481 million of taxable income despite reporting $12.6 billion of total income, and Amazon which reported $6.5 billion in income across four entities and paid $125 million in tax, meet their legal tax requirements in Australia.
