Media Dragon: Senate Ctee supports Tax Accountability & Fairness bill on PRRT, promoter penalty & other integrity reforms

ATO Deputy Commissioner John Ford said the ATO had an expert team of staff who were equipped to detect and identify tax crime activities, and these capabilities continued to strengthen.

“Specifically, this training has further enhanced SFCT partner agencies’ understanding of the resources and platforms available to share leads, support case development and further enhance information-sharing around crypto assets,” Deputy Commissioner Ford said.

ATO's Serious Financial Crime Taskforce receives training to combat crypto crime

Australia green-lit PwC days before Senate report into tax leaks scandal dropped

Senate Ctee supports Tax Accountability & Fairness bill on PRRT, promoter penalty & other integrity reforms

The PwC (Price Waterhouse Coopers) tax scandal shocked Australia, but the issues with consulting (accounting) giants are bigger than just one firm. Four Corners investigates the revolving door of staffers who’ve moved between the likes of EY, Deloitte and federal government departments. Whistleblowers also expose how KPMG, one of Canberra’s biggest clients, got cosy with Defence. Broadcast as Shadow State on ABC iview on 6 August 2023 and ABC TV on 7 August 2023. Four Corners is Australia’s premier investigations documentary series."

Shadow State: big 4

Tax advisers will be required to look beyond what is legally possible and consider the “reputational, commercial, and wider economic consequences” of their advice under global ethical rules coming next year.

The new global standards seek to restore trust in a profession battered by investigations such as Lux Leaks, the Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers and the Pandora Papers which revealed advisers helped corporations and individuals around the world use tax havens to avoid paying tax.

Global push to get tax advisers to think ethically

Zoom - Exposing the Consultancy Cover-up

Lobbying is at the heart of government. Who has access to and influence over key government officials shapes the decisions governments make - and how they make them.

The ability to influence government is certainly essential to democratic politics. Yet how lobbying occurs federally undermines Australia's democracy.

This lobbying is typically shrouded in secrecy. Bound up with such secrecy is unfair access for "insider" groups, especially powerful commercial interests. Such secrecy and unfairness risk encouraging corruption, particularly quid pro quo deals between government decision-makers and lobbyists.

In a disappointing twist, the report fails to recommend that the code be strengthened in these ways. It says this is due to "the narrow field of views heard by the committee during the hearing and the need to better understand a broader perspective".

Senate report on lobbying passes the buck on improving transparency or legislation

How Norway took control of their oil and gas industry and starting taxing them at 78%

‘Funk Money’: The End of Empires, The Expansion of Tax Havens, and Decolonization as an Economic and Financial Event Past & Present

Long Covid at Work: A Manager’s Guide Harvard Business Review. Under, I kid you not, the rubric of “Diversity And Inclusion.”