It has been almost five years since Australia’s hybrid mismatch regime entered into play.
Modelled on the rules developed by the OECD under Action 2 of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Action Plan, Australia’s hybrid mismatch rules are designed to prevent multinationals from gaining an unfair competitive advantage by avoiding income tax or obtaining double tax benefits through the use of hybrid mismatch arrangements that exploit the differences in the tax treatment of an entity or instrument under the laws of different tax jurisdictions.
Taxpayers across all industries continue to grapple with how best to meet the ATO’s compliance expectations, whilst navigating their way through highly complex, nuanced and untested interpretive issues posed by the interaction of Australia’s hybrid mismatch rules with foreign tax rules. This paper explores numerous complex issues and practical hurdles facing taxpayers who are affected by Australia’s hybrid mismatch regime.