CANBERRA, Australia : Australia's treasurer says Facebook, Google and other multinational companies are paying tax in Australia on their Australian profits instead of shifting income to low-tax countries since the government cracked down on tax avoidance.

Treasurer Scott Morrison told Parliament on Tuesday that Australia will receive an extra 2 billion Australian dollars ($1.5 billion) in tax from multinational giants in the current fiscal year because of the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law, which took effect in late 2015.

He says the government had given the Australian Taxation Office "the power, the resources and the penalties to get the job done." Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Google declined to comment. The law, dubbed the "Google Tax," targets global companies with annual incomes exceeding AU$1 billion.-AP