Does DP World dodge taxes in Australia?

With US$17 billion in 2022 revenue, DP World is one of the world’s biggest port operators, and one of the largest port operators in Australia. However, the company’s top Australian subsidiary has paid zero in corporate income tax over the last 8 years while it generated AUD$4.5 billion in total revenue and holds over AUD$2.4 billion in assets.

A new report from the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR) alleges that DP World appears to use a mix of related-party debt transactions and inflated management service fees to dodge taxes in Australia.

For the purposes of this report, the words “tax dodging” or other similar derivatives refer to a range of strategies, many of which are legal. This report makes no specific allegations of illegal activity or behaviour but highlights areas that may be cause for further scrutiny.

Such behaviour includes three related party payments, presumably via tax havens, which were equivalent to 120% of the 2022 operating income of DP World’s entire Australian port business. Likewise, DP World’s use of KPMG for both auditing and income tax compliance could raise concerns about potential conflict of interest, not least following the scandals engulfing other accountancy firms.

DP World provides another example of why the Australian government must pass full public country-by-country reporting for all multinationals operating in Australia. This measure was promised in the ALP’s election manifesto but has since been shelved. The Federal Government must resurrect the legislation as soon as possible to bring much needed transparency to multinationals like DP World.

The allegations contained within the report were put to DP World but they have not yet responded. If and when the company does reply, we will publish their remarks alongside the report.