To borrow from the Satires of the Roman poet Juvenal, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” Who is guarding the guards? The short answer is nobody. The guards are guarding themselves. And not only are they guarding themselves but they are writing the laws of nations.
~ Michael West
The Australian Taxation Office has more than doubled the number of multinational companies being targeted for tax avoidance, vowing to hit offending corporations with big tax bills and hefty fines.
The Tax Office told Fairfax Media that they had identified 175 companies that potentially fall within scope of the federal government's Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law – which aims to address the problem of multinational companies using loopholes to minimise tax paid in Australia.
Exclusive: ATO issues warning letters to 136 multinationals under new Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law
Martin Lock, formerly the head of withholding tax for the Australian Tax Office (ATO), describes the sheer pervasiveness of the four firms, particularly in the area of formulating laws: “These same stalwart firms are ensconced on the Board of Taxation, its Working Groups, CPA Australia, the Institute of Chartered Accountants (since renamed CAANZ) and the ATO’s very own National Taxation Liaison Group, which the ATO describes as “one of the ATO’s eight stewardship committees which addresses strategic issues to benefit Australia’s taxation and superannuation system” and which “drives improvements … to … tax law interpretation, administration, design and policy (including technical issues); confidence in and compliance with the tax system; and ATO service delivery.”
Mike West: George Pell silences PwC, EY, KPMG & Deloitte