Australian Greens are urging the local financial services watchdog to audit foreign tech giants like Facebook who allegedly avoid scrutiny via a tax loophole. Indeed, Facebook Australia hasn’t lodged annual accounts over the last 5 years. The company points out that under the “financial relief orders” smaller enterprises are exempt from having to file reports. This may sound strange for the operation being part of one of the largest companies in the world.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) could not provide information, when pushed in a Senate estimates committee, about whether or not it had audited the tech giant for those “financial relief orders”. The Greens claim that it was an issue with relation to tax evasion. In respond, ASIC argued that just because Facebook doesn’t lodge financial reports that are audited does not mean it is avoiding tax. Apparently, these are different things.

It is known that more than 1,134 foreign-owned entities have applied for financial relief via ASIC, claiming that their business operations in Australia are small. As you can see, ASIC makes a lot of financial relief orders – these rules have been in place since 1998.

In the meantime, Facebook recorded revenue of almost $8bn last year. Like many other tech giants, the company also has come under fire for basing its European headquarters in Ireland, where it can pay only a low rate of tax. Facebook Australia didn’t comment on the issue.

In the meantime, the Coalition has pledged to crack down on tax evasion, claiming that the government is fully committed to tackling any base erosion and profit shifting. Of course, any government is willing to ensure that all companies pay their fair share of tax on profits generated in the country.

The Australian Nationals senator wants a royal commission into white collar crime – he believes that Australia is “a paradise” for such offences.