18 Feb 2013

Tax avoidance crack down by G20

12:30 pm on 18 February 2013

G20 finance ministers meeting in Moscow have pledged to crack down on tax avoidance by multinational companies.

Their final communique said members are determined to develop measures to stop firms shifting profits from a home country to pay less tax elsewhere.

A number of companies, including Amazon, Google and Starbucks, have come under the spotlight for their taxation strategies in recent months.

Facebook has also now been accused of ducking its tax obligations.

A US lobby group claims Facebook paid no corporate income tax in the United States last year, and instead reclaimed $US451 million in taxes, despite recording profits of over $US1 billion.