‘Public servants' private tax information could be shared with boss under proposal - The Tension Between Democracy And The Rule Of Law

This was the year before the year that collapsed on us, a roof brought down by snow. The year of riding through abandoned stations on the riverside line that never crossed the river… —Pippa Little, “This Was the Year” in OVERWINTERING (Carcanet 2012)

‘Public servants' private tax information could be shared with boss under proposal

By Connor Pearce 

January 13 2025 

The private tax information of public servants could be shared with their employer if they are suspected of breaching the Commonwealth Code of Conduct, under a range of changes proposed by Treasury.

The proposed changes are part of a raft of reviews following the PwC tax scandal.

Secrecy laws in place at the time prevented the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) from sharing information once it became aware that PwC had breached confidence arrangements with Treasury, due to tax secrecy laws.

"The PwC matter has highlighted that there are genuine circumstances where taxpayer information may need to be shared immediately to protect the tax and superannuation system or the public more broadly," the discussion paper notes.

The proposed changes also respond to other scandals, including widespread GST-fraud uncovered in Operation Protego which involved some Tax Office staff being fired.

Proposed changes to tax secrecy laws would give the ATO and Commissioner Rob Heferen, inset, the power to share public servants' tax data with their employers. Pictures by Karleen Minney, supplied

While legislative changes introduced in 2023 allow for the Tax Office and the Tax Practitioners Board to disclose information about ethical misconduct by financial advisors to their professional bodies for disciplinary action such as revoking registration, these powers do not apply to Commonwealth public servants.

Treasury's proposal would allow the Tax Office to share information which raises a reasonable suspicion that a Commonwealth employee is in serious breach of their code of professional conduct with the employee's agency head, in order for the code of conduct to be applied.

Treasury suggests this could also extend to another Commonwealth agency if the employee is applying for a job in a separate agency and could include information that indicates a Commonwealth employee has committed serious fraud or dishonesty prior to their employment by the APS.

"This ensures that employees suspected of serious breaches of public trust are not able to avoid accountability by moving to another agency," the discussion paper notes.

"An employee who commits serious crimes relating to dishonesty or fraud poses a more substantial risk of undertaking behaviour in breach of their Code of Conduct."

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The discussion paper notes that any changes would need to be coupled with "proper safeguards" to protect the rights of employees.

CPSU assistant national secretary Melissa Payne said the union representing commonwealth public sector employees supported measures to improve information sharing were welcome but said appropriate safeguards were key.

"The CPSU supports safeguards to ensure individuals' right to procedural fairness and natural justice where the disclosures are made on the basis of suspicions rather than proven outcomes of an investigation," Ms Payne said.

"It's unclear how the ATO would determine that reasonable suspicion and what, if any, input other agencies may have in that."

Treasury also notes that due to the sensitivity of the information shared by the ATO, the Tax Office may not wish to provide information to agencies whose "information management protocols and IT security" do not meet the ATO's high standards.

The changes that could apply to Commonwealth employees are one of a raft of proposals included in the discussion paper, including information sharing with non-law enforcement agencies, changes to the rules around trusted professionals, such as tax advisors, and the disclosure of protected tax information for the purpose of security assessments, among others.

Feedback can be provided until the end of February, with Treasury to conduct a series of virtual roundtables to inform any final proposals.

Equality In Tax Law: The Tension Between Democracy And The Rule Of Law

 

Year end accounts

Posted on December 2024 by things magazine

Utter December randomness follows. The Art of Christmas at the Modern British Gallery / Fear and failing in Chatham, a gonzo art journey / Brick my World, an application that ‘turns your photos into stunning LEGO® models using classic rectangular bricks’ / a guide to London’s Members Clubs / as McMansion Hell dives into New Jersey 19th Century Eclecticism, you can also watch this video on The Invention That Accidentally Made McMansions. Spoiler alert, it’s something called a ‘gang-nail plate’, a ‘galvanised steel connector plate used to produce rigid distortion free joints in timber jointing’. So now you know / related, a revolution in nuts and bolts helped the Victorians build the Crystal Palace in just 190 days.

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Support the SE London BookFest 2025 / How to Watch a Baby, impressive presentation for this piece at The Verge/ IMG_0001, ‘a machine for inducing nostalgia for a brief period not too long ago’ (via MeFi) / TCL is making AI-generated movies. It’s as awful as it sounds / ‘And so begins a science-fiction horror show of a feedback loop… Microsoft starts boiling the Copilot frog: It’s not a soup you want to drink at any price.’ / build a Lego Minimoog / is an AI-powered Lego building app that shapes construction plans using your phone camera.

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Read an extract from Ghost Of An Idea: Hauntology, Folk Horror, And The Spectre Of Nostalgia at The Wire / ambient works by Norman Westberg / music by Demdike Stare / ‘Thirty years after Dog Man Star, Brett Anderson looks back on Suede’s album covers‘ / art by Anna Gaton/ ‘Why are cassette and CD players so bulky now?‘ / Lost In Cult preserves video game culture / Flummox Industries, a tumblr / Every Noise at Once, a journey from Spotify’s genres / Firehose, experience Bluesky in real time / Oneletterwords, a weblog.

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The Fry Art Collection, ‘artists who have lived in and around Great Bardfield and Saffron Walden’ / Anthony Powell’s collaged boiler room / Rolling Pin paintings for Black Friday, Daniel Eatock / Looks Delicious! Exploring Japan’s food replica culture / paintings by Hanie Soltani / Hurry Up We’re Dreaming, a new publication / not to be confused, The Thing Magazine / the story of the Wagner DOWA 81, a homemade aircraft.

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Artist Ian Robinson makes oil paintings inspired by people’s passions and their collections, whether it’s booksor music / the 100 best games to play on PC today / Iconic works from Martin Parr’s Archives / Transformers at the Moon, ‘a European based Transformers resource website’ / the Mercedes Brochure Archive / fuzzy lo-fi fun, Spiralling (demos) by Norjack / coming soon, Casa Mexicana / search the Plantin-Moretus Museum collection of woodworks / a visit to the Science Museum’s Hawking Building. Official page. Related, very old digital pictures of the museum’s old stores at Blythe House.

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Britain’s ‘best new building of 1996’ to be demolished. More info / Roman road uncovered in South London / the exhibition that helped save the country house. See also Lost Heritage’s complete list of over 2,000 houses demolished in the twentieth century / a celebration of Paul Rudolph, the architect’s architect (for better and for worse) / Aqualillies, synchronised swimming photography by Brad Walls / Off Assignment Magazine, ‘a non-profit literary magazine with a penchant for journeys and a fascination with strangers’ / a fun collection of Internet obsessive lists outside of fandom / ‘A road trip like no other’: my epic drive on Kraftwerk’s Autobahn / We should all read less news. Have a happy Christmas.