Media Dragon: Public Affairs Radar: The Four Corners

“There is a lesson in [Terezín] for those who conduct inspections in our day, whether in prisons, sweatshops, refugee camps, polling places, or nuclear facilities: do not trust––push; control your own schedule; do your homework. Remember the adage that a little knowledge can be dangerous. The truth is more likely to be served by a canceled or aborted inspection than by a whitewash.”
― Madeleine K. Albright, Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948

Deborah Jarvie, From dragon to Janus: exploring tax policy for the water-energy nexus
Marina Bornman and Jurie Wessels, The role and dimensions of tax payer commitment in tax compliance behaviour

UK: ministers need strategy to protect public servants from media attacks.
"The departure of the director of public prosecutions is just one example where public servants have faced scrutiny from a hostile media. It is time ministers had the courage to challenge unwarranted media attacks." (Civil Service World)

Businessman Adam John Hargraves buys luxurious Ashmore ...

Tax Revenue Committee Hearing Transcript 28 March 2018

ATO: Re-raising of written-off tax debts - Commonwealth Ombudsman

Australian Tax Office denies alleged unethical tactics, toxic culture

Now it is true that being a tax-collector will never, ever, be a popular profession Mongrel bunch of bastards or poor oversight? | Catallaxy Files

ANNETTE PIKE: If I had read this as a film script, I would say I was in an Eastern Bloc country in the 1950s behind the Iron Curtain because It's the government controlling the way people live in a way that's malicious.

There's no other word for it. It's malicious and it's vengeful. We're supporting the Australian economy. How do you make sense of that?

Four Corners Mongrels Bunch of Bastards

How the rising risk of an ATO tax audit affects you

Australian Taxation Office assistant commissioner Adam Kendrick said it had increased its resources to combat dodgy claims after finding widespread incorrect deductions for things such as mobile phones, uniforms and car expenses. The ATO's team of “data doctors” compares workers' tax deductions with ...

Here we go again, ATO reaches for the corporate scandal playbook

AFP raid home of tax office whistleblower over ABC investigation

ATO ABN outscribe tax office four corners

'I would describe what they're doing as evil': Tax Office accused of misusing 'draconian' powers

The Australian Taxation Office is facing calls for curbs on the draconian powers it has been accused of using to target small businesses.

Australians losing faith in our tax system

Who is watching the tax collectors?

'A mongrel bunch of bastards': The small businesses being crushed by the tax office

Australia: Stapled strucures integrity package: An attempt to redress ...

ATO's crackdown on HNW individuals drives demand for tax advice ...

Global Banking And Finance Review (press release)

The Australian Taxation Office's (ATO's) increased focus on Australia's high-net-worth (HNW) individuals is driving demand for tax advice. In a market where only one third of providers target HNW investors to offer dedicated tax advisory services, this represents a significant opportunity, says leading data and analytics ...

Calls for more oversight of tax office amid criticism of its tactics

The Australian Taxation Office uses heavy-handed tactics to target small businesses, and one of its deputy commissioner's admits the powerful institution sometimes makes mistakes. A joint Age/Sydney Morning Herald/Four Corners investigation can reveal that the tax office can get it wrong in one in 20 tax cases

The taxman is tougher on small business than big business, of that there is no doubt. Here are two short stories: one of Susan and Greg, a couple from Queensland who lost their house after running a cafe for 16 years, and another of a Bakers Delight franchisee who decided to fight but now faces the spectre of picking up the bill for a big city law firm hired by the Tax Office as well as his own costs Tax Office puts foxes in charge of henhouse again … for small business

Google: Tax full coverage

Tax office takes on professionals over income splitting

INTHEBLACK

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) expects to issue new guidance on Everett Assignments by June 2018, giving clarity to professional people who use the arrangements to minimise tax

Company and Securities Law Journal Helen Anderson and Jasper Hedges explain how the existing laws and rules apply to advisors and also suggest a number of legislative and administrative reforms aimed at curtailing their participation in illegal phoenix activity, with a particular focus on early detection and prevention mechanism
ATO CONCERNED ABOUT PRE-INSOLVENCY ADVISORS IN PROMOTING ILLEGAL PHOENIX ACTIVITY

NSW Labor Leader and Opposition spokesman for planning and infrastructure Michael Daley said this was the worst project he has seen in his 20 years of public life.

"Every time the contractor digs a hole there is something underneath the ground that they weren't told about," he said.

"That's because Gladys rushed this project … it should have taken two years to plan.

Mr Daley said the contractors were not to blame, and "this has been a cock-up" by the Government.

Light Rail Contractor sues NSW governments

Trump allies visit Sydney infrastructure privatisation talks: Lessons Learned

Iceland elects 41-year-old environmentalist as prime minister Inhabitant.com (UserFriendly

Clive Palmer charged with criminal offence

Aussies don't want PM toppled, says new poll

US takes aim at Putin’s elite allies in Russia with new sanctions Sydney Morning Herald (Kevin W)

Is Putin a C.I.A. Agent? New York Times. UserFriendly: “ROFL.”

Sergei Skripal poisoning: Former Russian spy recovering rapidly, hospital says Abc.net.au. Kevin W: “Key quote-‘What we also know however, is that with time the body clears the nerve agent away.’ Aaaaand now we know why they are being held so long and won’t allow the Russians to take blood samples and the like.”

George Galloway blasts Boris Johnson in classic opening rant YouTube (YY). “Why can’t Theresa May find a donkey who’ll do a better job on Britain’s foreign relations than the rear end of a pantomime horse called Boris Johnson?”

The Empire Strikes Backwards John Helme "The evidence now accumulating is that the hospital is detaining and isolating the Skripals against their will, preventing contact with their family.” That would be against a whole lotta laws.

Russian spy’s cat had to be put down and guinea pigs died of thirst after cops sealed them in house Mirror (YY). And why weren’t their bodies kept for analysis of toxins? And that poor cat was handsome. Kevin W on the Independent’s version:

The whole thing makes no sense. You would reckon that the Army would have been over the house wearing “noddy” suits and looking with a fine tooth comb for traces of chemicals. Having animals there would be “bonus time” as you could test their blood for any traces of chemical contaminants. The fact that the guinea pigs died and the cat in a bad state suggest that the house was sealed (the cat may have been lucky if it could get to the toilet water, unless the lid was closed). And this was before they took the front door away. Feel sorry for them as it was so unnecessary.

When we can’t agree to fight against neo-Nazis, we’ve reached a new low The Hill