Australia’s Board of Taxation has launched a consultation on 5 June 2025, proposing updates to simplify the Voluntary Tax Transparency Code (VTTC). 

Australia’s Board of Taxation (BoT), which oversees Australia’s Voluntary Tax Transparency Code (VTTC), has released a consultation paper on 5 June 2025, proposing updates to simplify the VTTC in light of changes in tax transparency in Australia and globally.

The Voluntary Tax Transparency Code (VTTC) is a set of principles and ‘minimum standards’. It urges businesses to share their tax information to inform the public about compliance with Australian tax laws, showcase companies contributing their fair share, and discourage aggressive tax avoidance practices. The Australian government expects all responsible large and medium-sized businesses operating within the country to adopt the VTTC.

This follows after the Treasurer tasked the Board with reviewing the Voluntary Tax Transparency Code (VTTC) in August 2024. The review includes how to:

  • Supplement policy developments in global tax transparency.
  • Encourage best practice tax transparency reporting for businesses.
  • The Board set up a working group to undertake the review.

The Board ran targeted consultation from August to October 2024.

The stakeholders included large businesses, professional bodies, investors and finance groups, advisors, academics, civil society organisations, and government agencies. After thorough consultation, the Board determined that the VTTC needed to be simplified and modernised to better align with evolving policy developments. This prompted the Board to initiate a comprehensive redesign of the VTTC in January 2025.

Since then, the Australian and global tax transparency landscape has evolved. The Board is now monitoring developments related to Significant Global Entities, such as public CbC reporting in Australia and similar global tax transparency initiatives.

Consultation

The consultation proposes a model that enhances the features of Australia’s new public country-by-country (CbC) reporting rules, including contributions beyond income taxes, and establishes a framework for smaller groups that fall outside the scope of these new rules.

Comments can be made until 11 July 2025.