The Australian wing of coffee giant, Starbucks, has dodged the taxman for its 12th consecutive year, despite the local subsidiary reporting booming profits.
The Australian coffee and quick service food chain has announced a 20 per cent increase in store profits for the year to last September.
Its 23 local sites raked in $38.6 million revenue – an increase of nine per cent – but its “corporate overheads” increased substantially too.
Corporate overheads, understood to mean undisclosed increased payments to Starbucks’ head office in the US, increased 15 per cent to $4.37 million.
These payments ensured the local company was plunged into the red by $1.52 million, meaning it did not have to pay any Australian corporate tax.
The US parent company received 6 per cent of the Australian company’s takings, at $2.3 million in royalties, according to ASIC documents.
The federal government has been targeting multinationals like Starbucks to make them pay more tax, reports the Australian Financial Review.
Other global conglomerates, including Apple and Google, have been scrutinised in Australia as part of a crackdown on corporate tax dodging.
Starbucks has never posted a taxable profit with the Australian Tax Office since it first entered the market in 2000.
Its British wing has also been heavily scrutinised for its lack of tax payments, with the UK wing also not coughing up any corporate tax due to its unseen profits.