近日，澳大利亞稅務局（ATO）發布了兩個新的納稅人通知，提醒跨國公司不要采取手段轉移利潤。

2016年第11號納稅人通知中，ATO提到跨國公司試圖利用一種新手段來對抗《跨國公司反避稅法》（MAAL: Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law）。那些受到《跨國公司反避稅法》約束的跨國集團通過在澳洲經營但把收入記在外國公司賬上來規避在澳洲形成應稅場所（taxable presence）。

ATO稱，在這一手段下，外國公司和澳大利亞消費者之間被安插進一個澳大利亞合伙制企業。據稱，因為這一合伙企業在稅收層面實質是“澳大利亞本土企業”，所以《跨國公司反避稅法》在此情況下并不適用，但是此合伙企業的利潤絕大部分卻被分配給了外國企業而達到避稅目的。據ATO消息，跨國公司和澳大利亞消費者之間的其他所有商業往來都與之前保持不變，唯一不同的就是其間設立了以避稅為目的的合伙制企業。

ATO稱，跨國公司為了對抗《跨國公司反避稅法》，選擇鉆法規空子人為安插合伙制企業，而不是對于“澳洲應稅場所”加以認定及接受，這一點十分令人擔憂。

自《跨國公司反避稅法》2016年1月1日生效以來，ATO已經聯系了175家企業，要求他們依法辦事，并對其中的高風險問題加以識別。ATO如今正在審查這些企業的涉稅事項，來判斷這些公司是否遵從《跨國公司反避稅法》，以及（或）是否妥善執行重組事宜。

第二條納稅人通知（2016年第10號）則反映了ATO對于跨國公司跨國循環貸款（round-robin financing）操作的關注。ATO稱，澳大利亞本地的公司往往以為從外國關聯企業獲得的貸款所付利息可以從所得稅申報中稅前扣除，長沙工商稅務，而此澳大利亞本地企業的外國關聯企業的貸款實際上正是由該澳大利亞企業提供的，貸款回到澳大利亞企業的時候也會再投向國外關聯企業。澳大利亞企業就此申報所得稅抵扣，但通過“循環”投資獲取的收入只會負擔很少的稅款，或是根本不用交稅。

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has published two new taxpayer alerts that warn against international profit shifting by multinational companies.

Taxpayer Alert 2016/11 concerns a new scheme that the ATO said attempts to avoid the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law (MAAL). The MAAL applies to multinational groups that avoid a taxable presence in Australia by operating there but booking their profits offshore.

The ATO said that, under the scheme, an Australian partnership is interposed between the foreign company and the Australian customer. It has been claimed that, because the partnership is technically an "Australian entity" for tax purposes, the MAAL does not apply, even though the partnership's profits are predominantly allocated to offshore entities for tax purposes. According to the ATO, the creation of the partnership is the only change: all other commercial interactions between the multinational and its Australian customers remain unchanged.

The ATO said that it is concerned that the interposed partnership is contrived to prevent the operation of the MAAL through an alleged technical loophole rather than by restructuring to acknowledge an Australian taxable presence.

Since the MAAL came into effect on January 1, 2016, the ATO has contacted 175 entities to assist with MAAL compliance and identify high-risk issues. These companies' affairs are now being reviewed, to confirm whether the MAAL applies and/or whether appropriate restructuring has been undertaken.

The second alert, TP 2016/10, explains the ATO's concerns as to multinationals' engagement in cross-border round-robin financing arrangements. The ATO said that, typically, an Australian company claims interest deductions on a loan from an overseas related party that is funded by the Australian company "investing" in the overseas related party. Deductions are then claimed, but income arising from this "round-robin" investment is subject to little or no tax.