Google settles US$327 million tax bill in Australia

Google agreed to pay Australian tax authorities Aus$482 million (US$327 million) to settle a long-running dispute over the tech giant’s multibillion-dollar business in the country, officials announced Wednesday.

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) said the payment covered taxes owed for 2008-2018 and brought to Aus$1.25 billion the amount recovered from global e-commerce titans including Microsoft, Apple and Facebook.

“This settlement is another great outcome for the Australian tax system,” said Deputy Commissioner Mark Konza, who has spearheaded the ATO’s Tax Avoidance Taskforce.

“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 added.