Jozef Imrich, name worthy of Kafka, has his finger on the pulse of any irony of interest and shares his findings to keep you in-the-know with the savviest trend setters and infomaniacs.
''I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.''
-Kurt Vonnegut
Thorbjorn Jagland, a former prime minister of Norway who led the Nobel Committee, promised influence, and the disgraced financier had gifts to give, new emails show.
I confess. As a tax professor, it has long hurt my feelings that economists label tax as a market distortion.
My field is summed up as an impurity on the otherwise pristine complexion of the economist’s pure market. I like to think that tax scholars are not so disparaging of economics. We do not view economically motivated action as a distortion to our tax system, but as a component of it. It is tax planning.
This Article proposes that tax should be viewed as a component of a market system. Just as tax scholarship acknowledges that an imagined world in which tax is imposed in isolation does not and cannot exist, might economic scholarship similarly concede that it lacks a robust basis to characterize tax as a distortion to the market, as opposed to a component of it?
After all, could a market exist without government enforcement of market rules, and could a lasting, functioning government exist without tax?
This is no ordinary tax season. More filers than ever before—individuals and pros alike—are using artificial intelligence to help prepare tax returns.
To learn more about AI and taxes, I recently asked the free version of three prominent platforms—Gemini, ChatGPT (OpenAI) and Claude (Anthropic)—a range of questions that filers might pose. Here’s a sampling of results.
A report from the White House touts the benefits of states eliminating their income taxes in favor of a broader sales tax, but one group contends that the report’s figures don’t hold up to scrutiny.
The 18-page report from the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, issued January 28, argues that raising income taxes, particularly corporate income taxes, triggers “unwanted behavioral responses that compound into substantial economic losses for the state and its citizens,” such as taxpayers moving to states with lower or no income taxes.
It’s all go in the Entertainment World. Streamers taking over studios, Live Sport and Live Music bigger than ever, Comedy under threat from scripted Drama, True Crime gaining traction, the rise and rise of Netflix, News in a crisis of trust, and TikTok creating one hit wonder phenomena by the day!!!
In the middle of this, I’m a traditionalist looking for great stories, brilliantly told, with charismatic characters that become part of my conversations. One of my picks as a Really Hot Leader – Cecile Frot-Coutaz (KRC December 26, 2025) – has repurposed Sky Entertainment Group “to be loved for shows that you just can’t live without”. The Group is dedicated to creating unmissable TV. Recent Sky unmissable shows I’ve enjoyed include: The Day of the Jackal, Brassic, and Chernobyl.
As for what I’m watching now – here are some shows that have helped me transition from work/fun to a calm night’s sleep.
Deliver Me From Nowhere. The Boss making Nebraska … and struggling with the ghosts of his past, the pressures of stardom, and his growing maturity. Great singing from The Bear (Jeremy Allen White). Check him out tearing up the stage as The Boss. Not quite as dramatic as Timothée Chalamet’s Dylan masterpiece, but worth watching. (Prime)
Down Cemetery Road. Truly unmissable TV. This time on Apple, by Slow Horses creator Mick Herron. A 20 year old story made fresh by great performances by Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson (loved her in Luther). Gritty, dark, sometimes deliberately silly/weird. Slow, meandering and very British. I binged it.
Breakdown 1975. A visually stimulating, nostalgic look at perhaps Hollywood’s zenith. Used to reflect America’s cultural disillusionment – corruption, a time of deep social/political mistrust, fear, uncertainty following Watergate / Vietnam etc. (You think it’s bad now – you’re right, it is – but it was worse then!!) Hollywood challenging its own American Dream façade, excerpts from One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Jaws, Nashville, Dog Day Afternoon, Shampoo, Taxi Driver, Network, Chinatown, Three Days of the Condor, and The Stepford Wives. (Netflix)
Maigret. One of the favourite detectives from my youth – by Georges Simenon in 75 novels (!). Now his son takes the stage – pretty cool. An unconventional, young, relentless detective. Three cases, six episodes on Prime (PBS). I loved Benjamin Wainwright’s Maigret. Series 2 in production.
And new series from Blood Coast. Series 2 finally – after a two-year wait. Rogue cop, special team, gang war, drugs in Marseilles. Series 3 in production. (Netflix)
Tulsa King. Series 3. Another Taylor Sheridan series for Paramount+, a guilty pleasure. Sylvester Stallone playing Dwight Manfredi – Mafia in Tulsa. Series 4 ordered as well as a spin-off – NOLA King, starring Samuel L. Jackson.
The Taylor Sheridan megamachine rolls on – Landman, Series 2. Billy Bob Thornton does it again, with Demi Moore stepping up too (yet another Taylor Sheridan show – Series 3 greenlit).
Slow Horses (Series 5) – along with Ted Lasso, one of Apple TV’s two best shows. Series 6 is in production.
The Mayor of Kingstown. Jeremy Renner (Series 4) – by … Taylor Sheridan (of course!!).
And The Night Manager, Series 2. I loved Series 1 with Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston. And I’m loving Series 2. Tom Hiddleston is stealing the show.
LOUIS XIV’S FINANCE minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, famously declared that “the art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing.” When it comes to taxing companies, a modern finance minister might rephrase this as “the largest possible amount of revenue with the smallest possible amount of economic and political damage.”
Tax hikes made cigarettes in Australia the most expensive in the world. They have also helped fuel a multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise in bootleg tobacco.
A retired math teacher descended into an underground parking lot in search of her dealer, cash in hand.
Headlights flashed from the far end of the garage in a beachside, middle-class neighborhood in suburban Melbourne, Australia. She walked up to an unmarked van and soon was back above ground with the illicit goods.
A carton of cigarettes.
Australia has the most expensive cigarettes in the world, a pack of midmarket cigarettes costing on average about 55 Australian dollars, or almost $40, nearly double what it will set you back in New York City. A series of steep tax hikes — eight in 10 years — were put in place to reduce the rate of smoking, which has steadily declined. But the high prices have also given rise to a thriving black market now estimated to be a multibillion-dollar industry that accounts for as much as half of all tobacco sales in the country…
“When your best employees go quiet, it usually means the workplace has become toxic and the leaders have stopped caring about the culture.”
~ Rob Dance
“The worst thing in a toxic workplace is that even the strongest person feels weak.”
~ Sheryl Sandberg
Barbara Pocock, a senator with Australia's Greens party, referred to a "misdemeanor" at the firm, and said she was disappointed with the fine. "We've got a toothless system where con artists... get away with so much," she told a parliamentary committee last week.
Tax hikes made cigarettes in Australia the most expensive in the world. They have also helped fuel a multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise in bootleg tobacco.
A toxic manager doesn't want a strong team. They want silent followers who don't questions their ego and decision.
TPB chair Peter de Cure revealed the accounting behemoth is the subject of two further probes during his periodic appearance before Senate estimates.
Senator Richard Colbeck quizzes TPB chair Peter de Cure. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)
PwC Australia is the subject of two ongoing Tax Practitioners Board investigations that the tax agent regulator expects to wrap up by the middle of this year.
TPB chair Peter de Cure revealed the accounting behemoth is the subject of two further probes during his periodic appearance before Senate estimates.
De Cure reiterated his previous evidence that the nine cases that grew out of the tax leaks scandal had largely been resolved – one person is still appealing the TPB’s findings — but that they had two ongoing investigations into the firm’s activities.
He declined for reasons of procedural fairness to elaborate on what those specific investigations were all about.
The firm initially came to public attention in January 2023, when penalties for historic breaches were announced by the TPB.
Those breaches led to more than two years of PwC Australia being excluded from procuring government work, and the firm restructuring its internal governance and risk management to avoid similar conflicts.
Senator Richard Colbeck asked de Cure whether the two matters the chairman of the tax agent regulator mentioned were related to the previous issues discussed before the various parliamentary committees.
“We have some matters ongoing with PwC, yes,” de Cure said. “As I said in previous evidence, senator, the nine partner-related matters that were related to the Peter Collins leaks inquiry have been concluded from us, with one matter outstanding due to that former PwC partner using their appeal rights.”
De Cure said a range of matters related to PwC Australia have been ongoing and that he had no concerns about the TPB meeting statutory limitations on investigations.
The chair was also questioned by Senator Barbara Pocock about the removal of Michael O’Neill as TPB CEO. O’Neill was replaced by Andrew Orme this year.
Pocock asked if O’Neill had been moved on as some kind of reprisal for successfully handling the PwC matter. De Cure said the decision was made by tax commissioner Rob Heferen.
She queried the grounds for O’Neill’s move from the TPB to the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission.
Heferen told Pocock that he believed rotating staff was healthy and that O’Neill’s service at the TPB for seven years was at the higher end of the margin.
He also told Pocock that while O’Neill was significant in overseeing the PwC matter, the former chief was not the only person involved in pursuing the firm because he had a team under him working on the matter.
He said O’Neill was one of 200 people involved in ensuring that the board of the TPB got the correct information to make disciplinary decisions.
Self-styled leadership conferences usually involve some aggrandising. But even then, it’s a push for the big four consultancies to paint themselves as winners.
Big four consulting continues to be in a pretty ugly place: revenue is down, jobs are getting cut, rivals who actually know how to use AI are nabbing clients, and they are still in the doghouse in Canberra.
Interesting timing for KPMG to pop up at an event about the importance of winning. Yet there it is, one of a trio of companies involved in running a four-day schmooze fest entitled “Play to Win: The Las Vegas Leadership Experience”.
The NRL is set to play its opening round in Las Vegas again this year. With some business coaching from KPMG on the side. Getty
It (like a host of other corporate and sporting tours) is tying one on with the NRL’s opening round in Sin City later this month. All part of Peter V’landys’ attempt to grow the NRL in the US, or at least delight the teams and fans who get a pre-season vacation to Vegas.
For a cool US$8900 ($12,580) per person (plus flights), attendees can hear from newly minted KPMG local partner Luke Grima, a US KPMG partner, a “surprise NRL coach” and execs from two Aussie marketing and business coaching companies.
What on? “The difference between playing to win and playing not to lose.” They also get to hang with NRL “legends”, watch the games and play a lot of golf.
Unsurprisingly news of this (which spread mainly, it seems, because of a post Grima made on LinkedIn) went down like a lead balloon within KPMG.
On a global front, news broke last week that its international office had negotiated a price cut from its own auditor by arguing artificial intelligence would make it cheaper to do the work. Every dollar counts, even if it undercuts your own workers’ claims to clients that AI cannot replace their audit expertise.
Great timing for a post from Grima on how his “past 12 months have been full of wins personally” – even though we are told he’s paying his own way for the event and taking annual leave for it. Apparently, that might assuage the anger of disgruntled staff about how the firm spends money.
KPMG Australia also isn’t officially involved in the event, and the workshops that were meant to be held at its US arm’s Vegas office have been relocated to a hotel.
It’s a trend across PwC, EY and Deloitte as well, while at the same time rivals such as Accenture and more boutique firms clock double-digit profit growth partly by eating away at the big four. If you’re “playing to win” but still losing, is that worse than “playing not to lose”? Deep.
Perhaps attendees can ask PVL his thoughts. V’landys’ plan to bring NRL to the Yanks has all the hallmarks of a company’s pivot to AI. Just 50,000 US viewers tuned into the opening round last year and the promised uptick in stateside gambling is hard to quantify.
One for the conference session on “the parallels between elite sport and business”. Maybe there will be real gains in the future for all this investment.
It’s just they’re currently being spent in the present.
More than two dozen KPMG Australia personnel have used artificial intelligence to cheat on internal exams since July, including a partner who will be fined more than $10,000 for using the technology in a training course about AI.
KPMG monitors if personnel use AI to cheat on internal training and exams. Eamon Gallagher
The firm will break out cases of AI-related cheating when it reports its annual results – a move that that goes beyond its existing extensive disclosures and would set a new transparency benchmark in the industry.
KPMG will also check that personnel fulfil their obligation to self-report misconduct to their relevant professional bodies. Both moves will put pressure on the firm’s big four rivals to follow suit.
The 28 cases of AI-related exam cheating this financial year highlight the tricky issue of acceptable behaviour when it comes to using the technology to assist in training and education, a problem also facing companies, schools and universities around the world.
KPMG chief executive Andrew Yates during a parliamentary hearing in 2024. Alex Ellinghausen
“Like most organisations, we have been grappling with the role and use of AI as it relates to internal training and testing. It’s a very hard thing to get on top of given how quickly society has embraced it,” KPMG Australia chief executive Andrew Yates told The Australian Financial Review.
“As soon as we introduced monitoring for AI in internal testing in 2024, we found instances of people using AI outside our policy. We followed with a significant firm-wide education campaign and have continued to introduce new technologies to block access to AI during testing.”
The partner, a registered company auditor, completed AI training in July. The training material recommended they download a reference manual related to the training as part of the course. The individual violated the firm’s policies by uploading the reference document into an AI tool to answer an exam question.
The firm’s internal tools picked up the activity in August. An internal investigation determined the partner should be fined more than $10,000 of future income. The partner also self-reported to Chartered Accountants ANZ which has an ongoing investigation into the case. The remaining 27 cases involve staff at or below manager level.
The corporate regulator imposes strict rules on registered company auditors because of how important their work is to safeguarding markets.
Open-book tests
“Our tests are open-book knowledge checks following internal training courses,” Yates said. “People are allowed to download training materials to assist with the test. But they are prohibited from uploading those materials into AI tools to assist them do the test.”
The firm employs around 10,000 people, has a turnover rate of 20 per cent every year and monitors over 20,000 internal tests a year.
The new incidents follow a December report in the Financial Review’s Rear Window column revealing a handful of first-year staff used AI to collude on internal training.
Current regulations of the accounting and auditing sector dictate firms are not obligated to tell ASIC about misconduct such as exam cheating unless there is a disciplinary finding by the relevant professional body. Instead, individuals are expected to self-report misconduct to their relevant professional body.
KPMG maintains it voluntarily informed ASIC as part of its ongoing discussions with the regulator. However, in a response to queries from Greens senator Barbara Pocock, the regulator said KPMG had not “filed with ASIC a report about the instances of auditors cheating using AI” before the December Financial Review report.
That article led to ASIC contacting KPMG and the firm providing information on a voluntary basis including the new detail that a partner had been involved.
In Senate Estimates last week, ASIC commissioner Kate O’Rourke said the matter showed “the limitations associated with the work and the regulatory hooks” that ASIC has over the big four firms.
Pocock is incensed about the new cheating allegations and has called for the regulation around reporting to the corporate regulator to be tightened up.
“This is yet again another example of unethical behaviour being carried out by the big consultancy firms,” Pocock said. “Self-reporting unethical behaviour – what a joke. The current reporting regime isn’t just inadequate, it’s a joke. We need greater transparency and stronger reporting mechanisms.”
Yates said the firm already reminds personnel that have breached rules they have an “obligation to self-notify to any relevant body”.
“Now, we are finalising new processes to strengthen our approach and reinforce they need to self-report, and we’ll be checking that they have.”
Edmund Tadros leads our coverage of the professional services sector. He is based in our Sydney newsroom. Email Edmund at edmundtadros@afr.com.au
“When you leave a toxic workplace, you’re not giving up. You’re choosing to save yourself from an environment that does not support growth or happiness.”
