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Australia’s ‘worst tax dodger’ revealed, report claims


EXXONMOBIL has been branded Australia’s worst tax dodger, with a new report revealing the oil giant has made nearly $25 billion over the past three years without paying a cent of corporate income tax.

Thanks Trump or thanks Australia and other countries?


According to the report by the Tax Justice Network, Exxon uses a complex web of offshore shell companies and complicated high-interest loan structures to artificially reduce its tax payments in Australia.

In effect, the report says, Exxon’s entire Australian operations are owned through the Bahamas, in what appears to be a “Caribbean variation” of the aggressive tax minimisation scheme known as the “Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich”.

“Exxon is the poster boy for corporate tax dodging,” report author Jason Ward said in a statement. “What this research shows is that ExxonMobil has exploited Australia’s natural resources, made a ton of money and siphoned it all off overseas.

“By using notorious tax havens, high-interest internal loans and related party transactions they’ve sucked the taxpayer dry. ExxonMobil has $54 billion sitting in offshore bank accounts.

“Our research shows that much of that money has been funnelled from Australia through Exxon’s Dutch outfit, and ultimately through their Bahamas subsidiary. But the very idea of Exxon Australia being owned in the Bahamas raises more questions than answers.”