SYDNEY, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Internet giant Google has reached a settlement with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on Wednesday, agreeing to hand over 481.5 million Australian dollars (329.6 million U.S. dollars) following a decade-long legal battle.
Stemming from an audit into Google's tax practices between 2008 to 2018, ATO Deputy Commissioner Mark Konza said, "this settlement is another great outcome for the Australian tax system."
"It adds to the significant success of the ATO in positively changing the behaviour of digital taxpayers and significantly increasing the tax they pay in Australia," he said.
A hot political topic Down Under, large international tech companies have come under fire for funnelling profits offshore to avoid paying taxes.
But with a Tax Avoidance Taskforce set up by the Australian government under the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law introduced two years ago, the ATO has managed to claw back 1.25 billion Australian dollars (860 million U.S. dollars) in tax revenue from e-commerce outfits including Google, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook.
On top of this, the ATO estimates that over 7 billion Australian dollars (4.8 billion U.S. dollars) in taxable sales will now stay onshore as a result of the tough new laws.
"The extension of the (Tax Avoidance) Task Force until 2023 will ensure that the ATO is able to continue to pursue these issues and provide assurance to the community that we are doing everything in our power to protect Australia's tax base," Konza said.
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