Global Daily Tax News, Australia Finalizes Guidance On Public CbC Reporting Exemptions, (Dec 9, 2025)

The Australian Taxation Office has finalized guidance on the Commissioner's discretion for granting an exemption from public country-by-country reporting obligations.

Provisions for the public CbC reporting requirement were included in The Treasury Laws Amendment (Responsible Buy Now Pay Later and Other Measures) Bill 2024, which was approved by both houses of parliament on November 29, 2024.

Following amendments agreed to the regime following consultations, the Government agreed that full CbC reporting will not be required for all countries. Instead, public CbC reporting will be required for Australia and specified jurisdictions.

For all other jurisdictions the CbC reporting group operates in, the public CBC reporting parent has a choice to publish that same information on either a CbC basis or an aggregated basis.

The law gives the Commissioner the power to exempt an entity from some, or all, of its public CBC reporting obligations for one reporting period at a time. The ability to give a public CBC reporting exemption is discretionary. The law provides the 'exemption powers to respond to exceptional circumstances where disclosure of information ... would be inappropriate'.

The agency has published Practice Statement Law Administration PS LA 2025/2 - Public country-by-country reporting exemptions.

The Practice Statement explains that, when deciding on an application for an exemption, the following factors will be considered: the impact on national security; a potential breach of Australian law; a potential breach of the laws of another jurisdiction; or the potential to reveal commercially sensitive information.

The Practice Statement sets out:

• considerations relevant to the exercise of the discretion;

• the process for seeking an exemption from public CBC reporting obligations; and

• the information that applicants should provide with the application for exemption.

The Australian Taxation Office said: "Entities have started to lodge exemptions applications. We encourage any entities seeking an exemption to register and submit an application well before the reporting deadline to give us sufficient time to consider the request. We also offer an early engagement service if you or your client would like to discuss your circumstances before lodging a formal exemption application."

"In addition to this practice statement, there are ongoing discussions about the possibility of class exemptions for some entities."