ZURICH: The Tax Office is chasing oil major Shell Australia in Switzerland, asking the government for documents related to both its upstream and downstream companies, according to Swiss sources.
It is no secret the ATO is unhappy with the oil majors as they have radically ramped up their debts to their own offshore associates in order to siphon profits out of Australia. Over the past four years, total related party debts – that is loans by the oil giants to themselves – more than doubled from $52 billion to $107 billion. Meanwhile, third party debt rose from just $3 billion to $6 billion.
As a result, interest expense within Australia fell from $457 million to $170 million while interest expense overseas rose from $1.7 billion to $2.4 billion.
It is likely the ATO is pursuing all four global oil majors. Chevron has been top of its hit list but Exxon is also deemed to be a shocking offender.
The ATO has asked for assistance regarding Shell Australia Limited (the downstream business which used to own the petrol stations before they were sold to Dutch group Vitol), Shell Energy Holdings Australia Limited (SEHAL) and Shell Australia Pty Ltd.
