Million-dollar pencils and the billion-dollar question

Monsoon Pod

In this episode of the Monsoon Podcast, Nanumi Starke untangles the taxing debate on multinational tax avoidance.

How could paying little to no tax on billions of dollars in profit possibly be legal?

Globalisation has brought the world closer, but it has also ushered in an era of highly imaginative tax avoidance. How does it work, what can Australia do, and just what do million-dollar pencils have to do with it?

On this Monsoon Podcast, Nanumi Starke wades into the murky world of tax with three experts in the field, demystifying the lingo on the way.

Johan Van Der Walt is a PhD student at the ANU School of Regulation and Global Governance. His research interests include the shift from ‘tax secrecy’ to ‘tax transparency’ and the impact this shift could have on compliance attitudes.

Andrew Leigh is the Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Federal Member for Fenner in the Australian Capital Territory. Prior to being elected in 2010, Andrew was Professor of Economics at the Australian National University. He holds a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard.

Jim Killaly is a Visiting Fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy. He was Deputy Commissioner in the Large Business and International area of the Australian Tax Office and has represented Australia on various OECD working parties.

Feature image source: Scara

Music: Inspired by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Show notes | The following were referred to in this episode:

Corporate Tax Avoidance report - Part III: Much heat, little light so far – Commonwealth of Australia

Fair Game: Is Australia vulnerable or getting its fair share? – Jim Killaly