Business information
From 1 July 2023, tenderers for Australian Government contracts worth more than $200,000 will be required to disclose their country of tax residency (including their ultimate parent entity’s country of tax residence), as part of the general business identifier information required in the Commonwealth Government procurement tender application process.
Tax residence is a principle that is determined under the domestic tax rules of a country. It is relevant when considering how business income is taxed.
For more information on tax residency, visit the Australian Taxation Office.
Buy Australian Plan
This requirement was announced in the government’s October 2022-23 Budget and is being implemented as part of the government’s Buy Australian Plan.
This disclosure complements other initiatives to support transparency in government procurement, including the Shadow Economy Procurement Connected Policy.
Applies to all businesses
This new disclosure applies to all businesses (not just Australian businesses) tendering for a Commonwealth Government procurement contract.
Multiple tax residencies
If an entity has multiple tax residencies (that is, a dual resident), each of these countries of which it is a tax resident will need to be disclosed.
Of note, tie‑breaker rules (where an entity is considered a resident of one treaty country only for the purposes of that treaty) are not relevant for these disclosure purposes.
Business tax residency
An entity’s tax residency will not be used to exclude a potential supplier from participating in a procurement, nor will it be used to exclude a tenderer from further consideration in a procurement evaluation process.
Commonwealth procurement officer information
Model Approach to Market content
Non-corporate Commonwealth entities are required to include the disclosure requirement in all approach to market documentation for procurements valued greater than $200,000 (GST inclusive). Corporate Commonwealth entities are encouraged to use best endeavours to incorporate the requirements into their approach to market documentation and drive consistency in Commonwealth procurement processes.
The Commonwealth Contracting Suite Approach to Market template and Commonwealth Contracting Suite Deed of Standing Offer Request for Quote templates include the disclosure requirement. Both are available within the Department of Finance Commonwealth Contracting Suite.
Entities are required to include the disclosure requirement in all other approach to market documentation. Below is an example of the Model content that can be included in entity templates:
| Potential supplier entity’s country of tax residency |
Drafting Note Insert your organisation’s country of tax residency. Information to assist you to identify this information is available at [insert link to Treasury website]. [Guidance for Commonwealth officials: [insert link to Treasury website] – delete the highlighted text when finalising ATM documentation.] |
|---|---|
| Potential supplier’s ultimate parent entity’s country of tax residency |
Drafting Note Insert your organisation’s ultimate parent entity’s country of tax residency (if different from above). Complete with “AS ABOVE” if same as your organisation’s country of tax residency. [Guidance for potential suppliers: [insert link to Treasury website] – delete this highlighted text when finalising ATM documentation.] |
The inclusion of this content is only required for a new procurement approach to market published from 1 July 2023 onwards. Procurements already out to market, or in the process of being finalised will not need to be revised. Contracts that have been signed or in the process of being negotiated do not need to be amended.
Equitable treatment
All potential suppliers to government must, subject to the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs), be treated equitably based on their commercial, legal, technical and financial abilities and not be discriminated against due to their size, degree of foreign affiliation or ownership, location, or the origin of their goods and services.
Business tax residency
The country (or countries) of a tenderer’s tax residency must not be used to exclude a potential supplier from participating in a procurement, nor can it be used to exclude a tenderer from further consideration in a procurement evaluation process.
Confidentiality requirements
In accordance with the CPRs, Commonwealth entities are required to treat all submissions (including the tenderer’s country of tax residency) as confidential before and after the award of a contract.
Checking residency requirements
Procuring officials are not required to undertake any additional due diligence to ascertain the accuracy or currency of the country of tax residency provided by the tenderer. If a tenderer fails to disclose this information in their tenderer response, a procuring official should seek clarification as to why the information was not provided.
Ensuring compliance
Commonwealth entities will be required, upon request by Treasury, to provide this information to Treasury. Further direction will be provided by Treasury within the request.
Enquiries
If you have a query in relation to the collection and use of an entity’s country of tax residency, you should email Treasury at MNETaxTransparency@treasury.gov.au.