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REUTERS/Lewis Jackson/File PhotoSYDNEY, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Australia will drastically tighten penalties for promoters of dodgy tax schemes and beef up the power of regulators as part of reforms announced on Sunday in response to a scandal over the use of leaked tax plans by PwC Australia. PwC Australia was not fined for the breach under the existing rules, and the changes will not applied retroactively, a Treasury spokesperson told Reuters. "The PwC scandal exposed severe shortcomings in our regulatory frameworks," said the statement from the ministers for treasury and finance and the attorney general. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) foiled several attempts by companies to subvert the 2016 Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law but was frustrated in its subsequent investigation by "highly ambitious if not false" legal privilege claims from PwC Australia. Collins and PwC Australia were not sanctioned until late 2022 by a separate agency that regulates tax agents, the Tax Practitioners Board, after police said there was insufficient information for them to act.

Persons: Lewis Jackson, Peter Collins, Collins, William Mallard Organizations: REUTERS, PwC, Facebook, Bills, Reuters, Australian Tax, Thomson Locations: Barangaroo, Australia, PwC Australia

At the time, a number of organisations had called for the government to delay the planned January 2016 start date. The former partner did not tell Google the information was confidential, the source said. Reuters could not establish if Google was a client of PwC Australia at the time, and if it used the information in any way. What sources told Reuters matches information in the letter, which was publicly released with the name of the company that received the confidential information redacted. Tax officials told parliament in May they foiled several attempts by unnamed multinational firms to subvert the multinational anti-avoidance law in early 2016, months after confidential information had leaked.

Persons: PwC, Peter Collins, Collins, Tom Seymour, Lewis Jackson, Emelia Sithole, Sonali Paul Organizations: Google, Reuters, PwC Australia, PwC, Tax, Board, Thomson Locations: Australia, SYDNEY, PwC Australia

☆ Why PwC is selling part of its business in Australia for less than $1
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —PwC, one of the world’s big four consulting firms, is selling its government advisory business in Australia for just cents after a scandal left its reputation there in shreds. As a result, PwC will sell its government consultancy practice in Australia to Allegro Funds, a private equity firm, for just 1 Australian dollar ($0.7), PwC said in a statement. The business accounts for about 20% of the firm’s revenue in the country. PwC Australia has taken steps to try to regain trust. The firm also ordered nine partners to go on leave as it carried out an investigation “into who may have shared or misused confidential information,” acting CEO Kristin Stubbins said in an open letter in May.

Persons: CNN —, PwC, Peter Collins, Tom Seymour, Kristin Stubbins, Stubbins, Collins, ”, “ Organizations: CNN, Allegro Funds, Australian Treasury, Australian Senate, Police, PwC, Mr Locations: Australia, PwC, PwC Australia

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