Exemptions and administrative relief – from 1 January 2025

Overview

CBC reporting exemption requests The following approach applies to all Country-by-Country (CBC) reporting exemption requests received from 1 January 2025. There is generally no administrative relief available for the local file with respect to reporting periods starting on or after 1 January 2024.

In specific circumstances you may be eligible for an exemption from lodging one or more of your CBC reporting statements. We generally consider granting exemptions in 3 defined circumstances but may grant an exemption in exceptional cases, taking into account matters relevant to the Commissioner's exercise of the exemptions power.

In some circumstances, you may be eligible for administrative relief without the need to request an exemption. If you qualify, we will apply the relief to you using the information you have lodged or will lodge with us.

For more information about circumstances where administrative relief is available, see Administrative relief – CBC report to National Tax Equivalent Regime.

The representations made in all exemption requests must be factually correct. You are required to:

• articulate how you meet the circumstances of the exemption category for which you are applying and set out all the relevant facts or circumstances
• reference the relevant source materials to support your analysis and conclusions and provide this source material in your exemption application
• articulate and provide source documents in support as to the entity that is the ultimate parent entity or CBC reporting parent of the CBC reporting group in your application.

If you request an exemption, you must ensure that any representations of your facts and circumstances are consistent with the disclosures in the associated tax returns and financial statements prior to lodging the exemption application. We may ask for further substantiating materials to support the points made in the exemption request or that is otherwise relevant to determine the exemption request. We will apply an evidence-based approach in reviewing and approving requests. 

The approach outlined on this page does not disturb any exemptions that have been granted historically or in relation to requests made prior to 1 January 2025. If you have previously been granted an exemption, that exemption stands, unless you have breached a condition of that exemption.

Exemptions

Exemptions for CBC reporting statements are available in 3 prescribed circumstances. You can request an exemption by outlining how your circumstances align with those described in the exemption categories below and provide the relevant substantiating evidence.

Following scrutiny of the evidence, which may include a certain level of engagement with you and an examination of your lodgment records, we will provide an outcome to your exemption request by email reply. Exemption requests that are not supported by adequate evidence or that are not lodged in accordance with this exemptions framework are likely to be declined.

Available exemption categories

Exemption category	Exemption available
You are an Australian CBC reporting parent, or a member of a group consolidated for accounting purposes with an Australian CBC reporting parent, where the group has no foreign operations. No foreign operations means no constituent entity or permanent establishment outside Australia.	CBC report
The annual global income of your foreign CBC reporting parent is A$1 billion or more but falls below the CBC reporting foreign currency threshold in the jurisdiction of the foreign CBC reporting parent.	CBC report
You were a CBC reporting entity in the preceding year due to your membership of a group of entities but left that group during the CBC reporting year due to a demerger or sale to a third party and will not be a CBC reporting entity under your new structure for the foreseeable future.	CBC report and master file

Other exemptions for the CBC report, master file and local file may be available in exceptional circumstances after a review of the facts and circumstances and consideration of the evidence.

In principle, these exemptions will be limited to circumstances:

• that are not covered by exemptions 1–3, outlined above
• where granting an exemption is necessary to ensure conformity with the OECD Action 13 recommendations.

If your circumstances are exceptional and you wish to apply for an exemption, you must provide in your request evidence that substantiates your claims alongside citations of the relevant sections of the OECD BEPS Action 13 report. An absence of international related party dealings or internal dealings will not be sufficient for either a local file or master file exemption to be granted. These exemptions will be granted in very limited circumstances and the overarching expectation is that the master file and local file will be lodged.

Lodging an exemption request

An exemption request should set out the facts and circumstances relevant to your CBC reporting obligations and include the following information:

• The names and TFNs or ABNs of the entity or entities for which an exemption is sought, noting that all Australian CBC group members should be identified.
• The name of the CBC reporting parent, its TIN (if applicable) and the country in which it is a tax resident.
• The reporting periods for which an exemption is sought, noting that exemptions will be granted for a period of one year predominantly and the exemption request should be made after the tax return has been lodged for the associated income year and financial statements are available.
• The exemption category for which an exemption is sought, outlining how the scenario applies to your facts and circumstances.
• The CBC reporting statements for which an exemption is sought (that is, CBC report or CBC report and master file).
• Supporting documentation for the exemption, including the global financial statements (which must be in English, or translated into English) for the prior period and the reporting period. These should be the full and complete versions of the documents including the notes and not an extract or a summary. All source documents relied upon to determine eligibility for the exemption and the ultimate parent entity or CBC reporting parent should also be provided.
• If you are not listed as the authorised representative of the relevant entity, you will need to demonstrate that you are authorised by the entity to request an exemption on its behalf prior to submitting an application. For more information, see Primary contact and authorised contacts.

You should send your exemption requests by email to CBCreporting@ato.gov.auOpens in a new window. We will aim to decide your exemption request within 28 days of receiving all relevant information from you.

Changes in circumstances

If your circumstances change or there is relevant information not provided in your request (for example, your CBC reporting group has foreign operations that were not disclosed), your exemption will cease to apply. You should notify us immediately of any changes to the facts and circumstances outlined in your exemption request by emailing CBCreporting@ato.gov.auOpens in a new window.

Review rights

If you are dissatisfied with our exemption decision, you can seek to have it reconsidered by emailing CBCreporting@ato.gov.auOpens in a new window.

A CBC reporting exemption decision is not a 'reviewable objection decision'. This means you do not have the right to lodge an objection with us or have the decision reviewed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

You may apply for a review by the Federal Court under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977. Any applications to the Federal CourtOpens in a new window will need to be lodged within 28 days of the date of the decision issued to you.

Administrative relief – CBC report

There are 2 scenarios where you may qualify for administrative relief from filing a CBC report. These concessions are designed to align domestic CBC report filing obligations with the OECD model.

We will not seek the CBC report from you if your CBC reporting parent is resident for tax purposes in a foreign jurisdiction and one or more of the following applies:

• your CBC reporting parent is under an obligation to file a CBC report in their jurisdiction of tax residence and Australia has an active CBC exchange agreement with that jurisdiction
• your CBC reporting parent or another entity in your global accounting group (a 'surrogate parent entity') voluntarily files a CBC report in its jurisdiction of tax residence for exchange under an active CBC exchange agreement with Australia.

If you are relying on a filing by a surrogate parent entity you should confirm with that entity that it has filed in that capacity.

When you provide your local file or master file, you may provide the name of your CBC reporting parent and the jurisdiction in which they are a tax resident. You will be able to state whether that entity or another entity in the accounting group has lodged (or will lodge) a CBC report on your behalf. You will also indicate their jurisdiction of tax residence. This information is taken as notification of your intention to use the administrative relief described in this section.

Administrative relief – local file

There is generally no administrative relief available for the local file with respect to reporting periods starting on or after 1 January 2024.

The only exceptions to this rule are those outlined in the sections below:

• Tax exempt entities under Division 50
• National Tax Equivalent Regime.

Administrative relief for the local file may be available for reporting periods commencing before 1 January 2024 where:

• you are an Australian resident company that was a CBC reporting entity for the whole or a part of the previous income year
• you declare in your tax return that you have no transactions or dealings with international related parties for the reporting year by answering 'no' at question 26.

Tax exempt entities under Division 50

If you are a CBC reporting entity and a tax-exempt entity under Division 50 of the ITAA 1997 (a 'Division 50 entity'), we will not seek CBC reporting statements from you. This relief applies automatically, no separate exemption request is required.

This relief also applies to you if you are a taxable entity that is a wholly owned subsidiary of a Division 50 entity. You will need to identify the Division 50 entity in your tax return as your ultimate holding company (UHC) to access this relief.

There is one exception to this concession. If you are the CBC reporting parent and you have a foreign constituent entity or foreign permanent establishment, you will need to lodge a CBC report. We will not, however, require that you lodge a master file or local file.

National Tax Equivalent Regime

If you are a CBC reporting entity and a National Tax Equivalent Regime (NTER) entity, or a wholly owned subsidiary of such an NTER entity, you will generally not be required to lodge CBC reporting statements. We will apply this treatment automatically.

There is one exception to this concession. If you are the CBC reporting parent entity and you have a foreign constituent entity or foreign permanent establishment, you will need to lodge a CBC report. A master file or local file will not be required.

Ceasing operations or winding up

If an entity with a foreign CBC reporting parent was a CBC reporting entity for the whole or a part of the previous income year and it is wound up in the current income year, or if the Australian presence was a PE and it ceased to be a PE during the current income year, a final tax return for the period of its existence may still be required. While this final return would reflect activities for a period less than 12 months the tax return is nevertheless for a full income year and CBC reporting statements are still required for that income year.

The winding up of an entity or cessation of an Australian presence will not, on its own, be considered grounds for a CBC reporting exemption. CBC reporting statements will not be required for income years after an entity has been wound up or, in the case of a foreign resident operating through a PE, for income years after an entity ceased to operate in Australia.

Difficulties in accessing information

We expect foreign parent entities to support local entities to meet all of their local legal requirements, including their tax and associated reporting obligations. If you experience genuine difficulties in obtaining information or reports from your CBC reporting parent or another entity in your multinational enterprise group, such that you will have difficulties meeting your CBC reporting lodgment obligations, you can outline your circumstances to us by emailing CBCreporting@ato.gov.auOpens in a new window.

In doing so, you will need to fully describe the difficulties you're encountering in accessing the information. We will consider how you can best meet your obligations, including whether your circumstances support an extension of time to lodge a CBC reporting statement.