Joe Hockey intends to lead from the front in the battle against global tax cheats.

The federal treasurer is co-hosting with Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Cairns where global tax reform is high on the agenda.

Ahead of the start of the two-day event, Mr Hockey said he remains dissatisfied with the tax outcomes that some multinationals are able to manufacture, creating an uneven playing field.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development through the G20 has been working on global tax reform that creates better transparency, automatic exchange of information between countries and a common reporting standard.

“Australia will kick-off the process by committing to implementation of a new reporting standard in 2017,” Mr Hockey said.

It would put Australia in the leading pack for change.

“We are absolutely determined to ensure that companies and individuals pay tax in Australia on their earnings in Australia,” he said.

The key focus for the OECD at the half-way mark of its two-year project ending 2015 has been the so-called base erosion and profit shifting or BEPS.

It is aimed at companies that shift their profits around the world to low or no tax jurisdictions.

OECD secretary general Angel Gurria said taxation arrangements have become blurred in the digital economy.

“The idea is to neutralise the cash boxes of these multinational businesses (that) hold about $US2 trillion offshore,” Mr Gurria told reporters.

Already 37 billion euros ($A55.50 billion) has been identified from voluntary disclosure programs targeting offshore evasion.

“More will come,” Mr Gurria said.

He said the OECD is working to ensure all countries, including low-income countries, can participate and reap the benefits of the BEPS project and enhanced tax transparency.

Australian taxation commissioner Chris Jordan said people need to feel that everyone is paying the right amount, including multinationals.

“(It) has the potential to undermine the community’s willing participation in our tax system,” he told reporters.

He said the exchange of information between other taxation jurisdictions has already netted an additional $480 million in the last financial year.

The common reporting standard, when implemented, can only increase that substantially.

He said the G20 is attempting to change the tax rules for everyone.

“Not just for a handful of companies, this is resetting the tax rules … over the next 50 to 100 years,” Mr Jordan said.