National Australia Bank Limited

Response to Review of Business Taxation

" A Platform for Consultation " Discussion Paper 2

Executive Summary

National Australia Bank (the National) is an international financial services group providing a comprehensive range of financial services across four continents and 15 countries. At 30 September 1998, globally, the National had:

• An asset base of over $250 billion (over half of which are deployed offshore).
• Over $400 billion in assets under administration.
• A profit after tax of $2.5 billion (over half of which was generated in offshore jurisdictions). As a general rule, the foreign profit derived by the National is exempt from tax in Australia as it has already been subject to tax at a comparable tax rate.

The National supports the reform of Australia’s taxation system, including the reform of business taxation. The overriding aim of Discussion Paper 2 of Business taxation (RBT) is the improvement of the competitiveness and efficiency of Australian business. With the increasing globalisation of investment and capital flows, to achieve this aim Australia must have a business taxation system that is internationally competitive. This will allow Australian multinationals such as the National to expand in foreign markets and to raise cost effective capital from overseas investors.

This is particularly important in the context of the Government’s stated objective that it wishes Australia to develop as a regional financial centre.

Set out below is a summary of the National’s views on the various options outlined in the second discussion paper, "A Platform for Consultation" (Discussion Paper 2). Full details are provided in the attached Appendices. The National’s support for individual options is dependant on the final approach taken on related major issues. A number of the options are linked and if the linkages are modified the National’s support for individual options may need to be re-assessed.

The full submission is available to download in
either PDF or RTF format