Coles boss trash-talks Aldi over tax

COLES has begun publicly trash-talking discount rival Aldi, with its boss asking serious questions about the German chain.

COLES has begun publicly trash-talking discount rival Aldi, with Wesfarmers CEO Richard Goyder demanding to know if the German retailer is paying its fair share of tax in Australia.

Speaking at a business lunch in Melbourne yesterday, Mr Goyder said Aldi should have its local financial accounts inspected by “someone”, but stopped short of calling for an investigation by the Australian Taxation Office or Treasury.

“I think someone should go and have a look at how much tax Aldi pays in this country,” Mr Goyder said. “I suspect they are very profitable.” He later told The Australian: “Ask them to tell you how much corporate tax they pay, I’ll tell you how much we pay.”

Wesfarmers, which owns Coles, Bunnings and Kmart, paid nearly $1 billion in income tax last year. Aldi has global annual revenue of more than $80 billion.

In response, an Aldi spokeswoman said the suggestions that the company wasn’t paying its fair share of tax were “misinformed and factually incorrect”. “Aldi Australia also refutes any and all claims that it is not compliant with Australian taxation regulations,” she said.

“Aldi has established an independent operation in the Australian market and meets all of the taxation requirements of state and federal governments.

“Aldi’s 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 per cent of net profit, and in 2013 it paid $81.6 million in income tax.”

She added that as of October 2015, the ATO will require all businesses with revenues of over $100 million to lodge total income, taxable income and income tax payable. “Aldi Australia will be complying with these new requirements,” she said.

“Since commencing operations in Australia, Aldi has invested $3.7 billion in capital expenditure into the Australian economy. Additionally, 100 per cent of profits have been reinvested back into Australia.”

The federal government announced a package of measures in the May budget to crack down on multinational tax avoidance, but experts have warned the new measures may prove difficult to enforce.

The ATO did not respond to requests for comment. Woolworths declined to comment.

Aldi has global annual revenue of more than $80 billion.