An $880 million payout to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has reignited the debate over whether global companies pay their fair share of tax in Australia.

News was paid the money after winning a long-running legal battle with the Tax Office relating to a 1989 restructure of the media empire involving billions of dollars and a company in tax haven Bermuda.

Rupert Murdoch. Credit:Tamara Dean

The ATO had refused to allow the deduction but News Corporation defeated it in the full Federal Court in July and the money began flowing to the company over the Christmas-New Year break.

Mark Zirnsak, who is the Australian representative of advocacy group Tax Justice Network, said the payout ''highlights the urgent need for reform of the global tax rules''.