Microsoft Official Calls Australia Tax-Report Plan Too Harsh

Australia’s plan for public country-by-country tax reporting is so onerous that it’s possible some companies may “second-guess” doing business in Australia, a Microsoft Corp. tax official said Friday.

Some of the reporting thresholds and required asset disclosures in the plan are such that “I wonder whether companies that invest or want to invest in Australia may second-guess their investment if they feel it’s going to open up a can of worms,” said Tom Roesser, tax policy counsel at Microsoft. He spoke on a panel about the concerns of corporate tax directors at a conference of the International Fiscal Association’s USA ...