The recently enacted public country-by-country (CBC) reporting regime applies in Australia to reporting periods commencing on or after 1 July 2024. With first reports due as early as 30 June 2026, impacted large multinational enterprises are strongly urged to consider registering with the ATO and take immediate compliance action, to avoid incurring hefty penalties.
Table of contents
- An overview of Australian public country-by-country reporting
- Public country-by-country reporting registration with ATO
- Applying for public country-by-country reporting exemption
- Public country-by-country reporting penalties
- Public country-by-country reporting software & solutions
Public CBC reporting in a nutshell
The public CBC reporting regime in ss 3D, 3DA and 3DB of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (TAA 1953) requires certain large multinational enterprises to report selected tax and financial information to the ATO, unless an exemption has been granted. It operates in parallel with the confidential CBC reporting regime in Subdiv 815-E of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997).
Specifically, the regime applies to an entity that satisfies all of the following conditions:
- it is (i) a “constitutional operation” (defined in s 995-1(1) of ITAA 1997 to mean, broadly, a foreign corporation, or a trading or financial corporation formed within the limits of the Commonwealth), (ii) a partnership, provided each of the partners is a constitutional corporation, or (iii) a trust, provided each of the trustees is a constitutional corporation
- it was a CBC reporting parent for the preceding period (see below), and
- it satisfies several requirements for a particular reporting period (see below).
Broadly speaking, an entity is a “CBC reporting parent” for a period if all of the following conditions in s 815-375 of ITAA 1997 are satisfied:
- the annual global income of the entity or its CBC reporting group for the period is $1 billion or more
- it is not an individual
- if it is a member of a CBC reporting group at the end of the period – it is not controlled by any other member of the CBC reporting group at the end of the period.
The entity must satisfy all of the following requirements for a particular reporting period:
- it was a CBC reporting parent for a period that includes the whole or a part of the preceding reporting period
- it was a member of a CBC reporting group at any time during the reporting period
- at any point during the reporting period, it, or a member of its CBC reporting group, was an Australian resident or a foreign resident operating an Australian permanent establishment
- $10 million or more of its aggregated turnover for the reporting period was Australian-sourced, and
- it was not an exempt entity or included in a class of exempt entities.
For Australia and jurisdictions specified by the Minister, particular information must be published on a CBC basis. For the remaining jurisdictions the group operates in, the CBC reporting parent can publish information on either a CBC basis or an aggregated basis. The ATO will then facilitate the publication of such information on an Australian government website.
The regime applies to reporting periods commencing on or after 1 July 2024, with reports due within 12 months of the end of a reporting period. The due date for the first report is 30 June 2026 for entities with a 30 June year end, and 31 December 2026 for those with a 31 December year end.
Register with the ATO in advance
CBC reporting parent entities who are required to report under the regime, whether located in Australia or overseas, are encouraged to register with the ATO for public CBC reporting at least 4 weeks before they engage with the ATO. The ATO website contains the public CBC reporting registration form and accompanying instructions, as well as a brief description of the regime.
According to the ATO, registration allows for more “efficient interactions” with the ATO, including:
- nominating an authorised representative
- providing the public CBC report to the ATO
- requesting an extension of time to provide reports, and
- requesting an exemption from reporting obligations.
Applying for full or partial exemption
An entity should consider applying for a full or partial exemption if there are exceptional circumstances warranting an exemption. A full exemption releases an entity from all publishing obligations in a single reporting period. On the other hand, a partial exemption releases one from some of the reporting obligations for a single reporting period – eg disclosing only some of the information or disclosing all information for only particular jurisdiction(s).
The provisional guidance for ATO staff in Draft Law Administration Practice Statement PS LA 2025/D1 provides useful insight as to how the Commissioner’s discretion to grant reporting exemptions would be exercised. The observations in PS LA 2025/D1 do not apply to the exclusion for government-related entities, or the exemption provided in the law for classes of entities to be specified as being exempt by regulation or a legislative instrument.
Take steps now to avoid penalties
Hefty penalties apply for non-compliance. In particular, the administrative penalty under s 288-140 of Sch 1 to the TAA 1953 for failing to publish or correct information on time is 500 penalty units for each period of 28 days, up to a maximum of 2,500 penalty units. Given the current penalty unit of AUD330, this translates to a minimum penalty of AUD165,000 and a maximum of AUD825,000 for each failure. In this regard, entities are strongly urged to take immediate steps to fully comply with the regime.
Public CBC Reporting software
Purpose-built tax software like CCH Integrator can help reduce the burden on already over-stretch tax teams when it comes to public CBC compliance. Already a trusted solution for CBC reporting and Local File obligations, the addition of Public CBC, will bring all key Transfer Pricing obligations into a single platform and workspace.
Contact us to learn more.
