CA ANZ fines and suspends former PwC CEO in tax leaks fallout

Chartered Accountants ANZ suspends, fines former PwC chief executive

Former PwC chief executive Tom Seymour has been suspended as a chartered accountant and ordered to pay fines and costs of almost $25,000 over his role in the professional services giant’s tax leaks scandal.

Chartered Accountants ANZ, which also revoked his status as a fellow of the body, made the ruling following a sanction against Seymour by the Tax Practitioners Board for failure to act on signs that secret government information was being shared among the tax partners at PwC and for allowing an unethical culture to develop at the firm.

Seymour’s membership will be suspended for four years, according to a 43-page ruling published on Tuesday. He was also fined $15,000 and will have to pay costs of $9757. The professional body made the decision “on the papers”, or based on written evidence, after both parties agreed to dispense with a disciplinary hearing to speed up the matter.

Seymour, who was PwC’s chief executive from March 2020 until the leaks scandal forced him to step down in May 2023, had previously led the firm’s tax division when it became embroiled in a years-long fight with the Australian Taxation Office over advice it felt was overly aggressive.

The fallout from the scandal has been severe for the firmand the sector. PwC is a third smaller, the government has imposed stricter regulations on tax agents, and there has been a significant loss of trust in PwC and its rival big four consulting firms Deloitte, EY and KPMG.

Chartered Accountants said the sanctions reflected the seriousness of the tax board’s findings, Seymour’s seniority at the time, “his responsibility for supervision of senior partners with PwC and over the culture of PwC”, and “the seriousness of his conduct and the need for public deterrence”.

It ruled that Seymour’s conduct was “objectively very serious and [struck] at the heart of the public’s expectations that when they are dealing with a member of [Chartered Accountants] they are dealing with a person with a high degree of integrity”. It noted Seymour had “cooperated in the resolution of the matter and had no previous disciplinary history” and that there were no “exceptional circumstances to justify not publishing” his name.

Chartered Accountants noted that Seymour had complained that the Tax Practitioners Board ruling against him had been incorrectly decided.

The Tax Practitioners Board deregistered Seymour as a tax agent and banned him from reapplying for four years.

Comment was sought from Seymour.

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Edmund Tadros leads our coverage of the professional services sector. He is based in our Sydney newsroom. Email Edmund at edmundtadros@afr.com.au

CA ANZ fines and suspends former PwC CEO in tax leaks fallout

2 December 2025 

By Emma Partis

 CA ANZ has suspended the membership of former PwC managing partner Tom Seymour due to his involvement in the PwC tax leaks scandal.

Accounting body CA ANZ has suspended the membership status of former PwC CEO Tom Seymour for the next four years in a disciplinary ruling released on Tuesday (2 December). The professional body also ordered him to pay almost $25,000 in fines and legal fees.

The decision came after the Tax Practitioner’s Board (TPB) revoked Seymour’s registered tax agent status and banned him from re-applying for four years for failing to act with integrity or implement adequate conflict of interest safeguards within PwC’s Tax and Legal division. 

In September 2025, Seymour was found by the TPB to have breached the Tax Agent Services Act (TASA) 2009 after he oversaw the PwC tax leaks scandal as the firm’s managing partner at the time.

“The TPB’s findings about the Member’s conduct were objectively very serious and strike at the heart of the public’s expectations that when they are dealing with a member of CA ANZ they are dealing with a person with a high degree of integrity,” CA ANZ’s ruling read.

“In all the circumstances of this particular matter … suspension of membership for the same period as the TPB tax agent registration exclusion period was appropriate, together with a fine of $15,000 and removal of the Member’s advanced status as a Fellow.”

In coming to its decision, CA ANZ noted that the findings of the TPB had been “very serious” due to Seymour’s seniority within PwC, his responsibility to supervise senior partners and the nature of PwC’s conduct.

In 2022, it came to light that PwC’s international tax chief, Peter-John Collins, had breached confidentiality by sharing sensitive government client information on upcoming multinational tax laws, tipping off multinational clients to the new laws.

The scandal rocked the consulting industry and led to tighter code obligations and fresh breach reporting rules for tax agents.

TPB chair Peter de Cure said that their investigation had revealed a “culture of sharing of confidential information” in PwC.

“Despite frequent reminders in internal emails that this information was ‘confidential’ and should not be further disclosed, the practice persisted. This points to a deeply embedded culture within PwC that routinely disregarded formal confidentiality obligations,” de Cure said.

“Alarmingly, Mr Seymour who was in a privileged position allowed this culture to persist. Mr Seymour’s conduct has fallen short of the standards that the community would expect from a person in the profession.”

The TPB added that Seymour’s conduct had caused damage to the tax profession’s reputation, and a loss of confidence in the integrity of the broader tax system.

“I want to assure the public the TPB is committed to upholding the highest standards of professional conduct in Australia’s tax profession and will continue to take strong action in cases of serious misconduct,” de Cure said of the decision.