BLOGS

Australia’s new Public Country-by-Country (CBC) Reporting Regime represents a major step forward in global tax transparency. It extends far beyond the confidential OECD framework introduced in 2016 and reflects the Government’s commitment to integrity, fairness, and accountability in multinational taxation. Under the earlier regime, large multinational groups reported detailed financial and tax data privately to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Those confidential reports

One evening, my son and I talked about what makes a good society. He said, full of idealism, “If everyone could share equally in what life offers. Then people would truly be happy.” I smiled and asked him: “Imagine you are one of the top five students in your school. But the school decides to add everyone’s marks together, divide them equally, and give every student the same result. Would you be happy?” He looked puzzled, then quickly replied, “Of course not!” I smiled again.

The Australian Government’s proposed Division 296 is framed as a reform to “enhance fairness” in the superannuation system — a policy designed to limit the concessional treatment of those with total superannuation balances exceeding $3 million. Beneath this language of equity, however, lies a more consequential shift in philosophy. Division 296 does not merely adjust marginal tax rates; it re-casts the very purpose of superannuation itself. What was once a system built to rew