PwC Australia has told the Senate inquiry into consultants that it paid $12,000 to fly Second Commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn of the Tax Office to Paris to address its international tax conference in November 2019, at the height of a dispute between the big four firm and the Tax Office.
In answers to Questions on Notice from Greens Senator Barbara Pocock, PwC said the firm flew Mr Hirschhorn to Paris business class and paid for three nights accommodation at the Vendôme Hotel near the Louvre as well as ground transport costs.
Second Commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn. Alex Ellinghausen
The firm also said that Mr Hirschhorn had been invited to speak at the conference by former PwC leader Tom Seymour. At the time Mr Seymour was the firm’s financial advisory leader.
PwC detailed how Mr Hirschhorn arrived in Paris on November 13th via a business class flight from Sydney. He gave an hour-long presentation at the conference on the following day and attended a conference dinner on November 15 before returning to Sydney.
The firm said six PwC Australia partners attended the conference but refused to identify them. The firm said it “arranged Mr Hirschhorn’s travel and accommodation, in consultation with Mr Hirschhorn’s team.“
PwC refused to comment about Mr Hirschhorn’s attendance at private dinners or meetings during the trip, saying they were a matter for the second commissioner.
‘More than appropriate’
Mr Hirschhorn told a Senate committee in October that it was appropriate he attend the conference and present on behalf of the ATO.
“I think it was actually more than appropriate, it was actually a very important conference for us to present at,” Mr Hirschhorn said. It followed a “very robust speech” he had made to each of the big four firms in Australia and it was “an opportunity for me to give a robust, equally robust speech about how tax works in Australia … to PwC’s international structuring partners and to their biggest clients”.
A month before the Paris trip, PwC tax leaders had discussed a follow-up meeting with Mr Hirschhorn to address his concerns about false legal professional privilege claims, tax promoter penalties and the leak of confidential Treasury information.
An ATO disclosure log obtained under Freedom of Information states that PwC on July 1, 2019, offered “Travel and accommodation to present at PwC global conference on large corporate tax in Paris”. But the Tax Office did not disclose the value of the trip.
’48 hours in Paris’
In October 2019, leaders within the tax practice met to discuss Mr Hirschhorn’s concerns and the reports say that a follow-up meeting between Mr Seymour and Mr Hirschhorn was contemplated.
“Mr Hirschhorn spent 48 hours in Paris, where he presented at PwC’s Global Tax Symposium, met with Australia’s OECD Ambassador and Mr Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration at that time and attended Mr Saint-Amans’ session at the conference, before returning to Australia,” the ATO spokeswoman said.
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Edmund Tadros leads our coverage of the professional services sector. He is based in our Sydney newsroom.Connect with Edmund on Twitter. Email Edmund at edmundtadros@afr.com.au
Neil Chenoweth is an investigative reporter for The Australian Financial Review. He is based in Sydney and has won multiple Walkley Awards. Connect with Neil on Twitter. Email Neil at nchenoweth@afr.com.au
