Chevron will appear before a Senate inquiry into tax avoidance armed with figures it claims will prove it will be the largest single investor in the Australian economy in the coming years, as the company reels from a Federal Court decision that could see it hit with a $300 million tax bill. 
In a bid to defend its reputation in the lead-up to the appearance before the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance, the US energy giant released new figures that claimed its Gorgon and Wheatstone projects would make a capital investment of $84 billion.
The company will tell the Senate inquiry tomorrow the two projects will create nearly 100,000 direct and indirect jobs over the life of the project to 2040. Research commissioned by Chevron claims the company will pay $69bn in federal taxes as part of the Gorgon project and $39bn as part of the Wheatstone project.
Chevron Australia's managing director, Roy Krzywosinski, who will appear before the committee, claimed the Chevron gas projects were the largest ever investments by a single company in Australia. "Chevron is leading a combined initial investment of $84bn in the Gorgon and Wheatstone natural gas projects and together these represent the largest single investment by a company in Australia's history," he said.
"The projects Chevron has invested in will provide enduring benefits to Australia - on jobs, on tax revenue and on energy -security." However, Chevron can expect a grilling from senators after it lost a crucial tax case to the ATO that could now result in a tax bill of about $300m. While appeals mean any final payout could be years away, the Federal Court found the company was liable to pay tax on the interest from loans by Chevron's US parent company to its Australian subsidiary between 2004 and 2008 after the US company merged with fellow oil giant Texaco.
The ruling means the practice of interest rate arbitrage - where a multinational company can charge a subsidiary higher interest rates on loans and then save the parent billions in tax - would come under threat if the case is upheld in higher courts.
The ruling is likely to particularly affect energy sector companies, with judge Alan Robertson finding the financial circumstances of the multinational would be relevant to the treatment of the subsidiary, taking into account it was a large company and part of the oil and gas industry. Other representatives of the energy industry to give evidence to the inquiry will come from Shell, -ExxonMobil, -Caltex, BP and Woodside.Yesterday, inquiry member Labor Senator Sam Dastyari said representatives from ride-share app Uber and accommodation website Airbnb would also appear before the inquiry.