Discount supermarket chain ALDI has hit back at Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder’s call for it to be more transparent about its taxation.
“I think someone should go and have a good look at how much tax ALDI pays in this country because I suspect they’re very profitable,” Goyder told the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia in Melbourne yesterday.
“They should be paying corporate tax in Australia, they should be very transparent”.
But ALDI hit back today, saying it refutes any and all claims it is not compliant with Australian taxation regulations.
“Recent suggestions by one of ALDI Australia’s major competitors that ALDI may not be paying its fair share of tax are misinformed and factually incorrect,” a spokesperson for ALDI said in statement provided to SmartCompany.
“ALDI has established an independent operation in the Australian market and meets all of the taxation requirements of state and federal governments.”
ALDI says its sales reached $6 billion in the 12 months ending December 2014 compared with $5.3 billion in 2013.
ALDI’s average corporate tax rate for the last three years was almost 31% of net profit and in 2013 it paid $81.6 million.
The spokesperson for ALDI said the supermarket chain will comply with new requirements from October 2015, when the Australian Tax Office will require all businesses with revenues of over $100 million to lodge information on total income, taxable income and income tax payable.
Cara Waters is the editor of SmartCompany. Cara was previously a senior reporter at the Financial Times website FT Adviser in London and has also worked for The Sunday Times.
