Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Can I just give perhaps a policy rationale? There is a difference between a proprietary company, a privately owned company, and a public company. That distinction has been recognised in the law since we had the two types of companies. It is recognised that a proprietary company has an obligation to give less disclosure because the shares are privately owned, as opposed to a public company where the shares are more widely held. So that distinction has always been recognised.

The second point to know is that anyone watching the actions of the ATO over the last 10 or so years with respect to attacking aggressive tax minimisation would see that anyone, whether a proprietary or a public company, engaging in very aggressive tax minimisation schemes is subject to the most onerous of penalties from the ATO.