"Australia's biggest miners, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, have told the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance that they are under audit by the Australian Taxation Office for allegedly shifting profits through marketing hubs in Singapore.
The Singaporean hubs are used by multinationals including the tech giants and miners to reduce the tax they pay in Australia, although they have disputed this, saying it's a genuine marketing hub that they use to enhance their services and products.
On the third day of the inquiry's hearings, held in Melbourne, the debate was heated with BHP Billiton executives refusing to answer questions from senators on how big a potential tax bill the company faced because of its Singapore hub.
Rio Tinto's Australian managing director, Phil Edmands, told the inquiry that its Singapore hub made a $719 million profit and paid a 5 per cent tax rate ($44 million) in 2014.
Rio Tinto also admitted that it was under audit by the Tax Office but said it had not been given a position paper setting out the additional amount of tax the ATO was claiming back."
