PwC referred to police over tax document leak
CAPE TOWN -The Australian Treasury has referred a confidential document leak scandal involving PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to police, Secretary to the Treasury Steven Kennedy said on Wednesday.
The government, a PwC Australia client, has accused the firm of sharing confidential information about new anti-tax avoidance measures with its corporate customers to win more business in what it has called a major breach of trust.
PwC Australia’s CEO stepped down this month, and the firm has said it is “committed to learning from our mistakes”.
The firm’s former Head of International Tax, Peter Collins, improperly used confidential Commonwealth information and emails tabled in parliament earlier this month,“a wide range of individuals at the firm were privy to the information,’’ said Kennedy. “In light of these recent revelations and the seriousness of this misconduct, the Treasury has referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police to consider commencement of a criminal investigation,” he said.
Comment
The Australian Federal Police and PwC did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Accountancy firm PwC Australia says its chief executive has resigned following a scandal over the leaking of confidential government plans to crack down on tax avoidance by multinationals. Tom Seymour stepped down “effective immediately”, the firm said in a statement Monday, that was provided to AFP.
PwC Australia, part of the Big Four global giant PwC, stressed “the immediate need for the firm to rebuild and enhance trust”. It has been embroiled in scandal since then international tax partner Peter Collins was found to have made unauthorised disclosures about the government’s planned tax reforms.
Collins had shared details from confidential Treasury briefings -held between 2013 and 2018 -- with PwC Australia partners and staff, Australia’s Tax Practitioners Board said in January.
He was deregistered as a tax agent in November last year and barred from reapplying for two years, the regulator said, confirming a story first reported by the Australian Financial Review.
Affair
PwC Australia itself also breached its obligations by failing to manage its conflicts of interest in the affair, the regulator said at the time.
The Treasury’s confidential tax plans included new rules to stop multinationals avoiding tax by shifting profits from Australia to tax and secrecy havens, the Tax Practitioners Board said.