PwC Australia has been implicated in a national scandal involving leaked confidential information about a new tax law. According to sources, PwC provided Google with the start date of the law, which had been leaked from Australian government tax briefings. This is the first time a company has been directly linked to the scandal, which first came to light in January.
The scandal centers around a former partner of PwC, Peter Collins, who shared confidential drafts of the government’s anti-tax avoidance laws with colleagues. These drafts were then used to attract business from multinational companies. One of Collins’ colleagues reportedly emailed a Google employee in 2015 to confirm the start date of the government’s Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law. Although the start date had been announced in the government’s budget papers earlier that year, the confirmation came from confidential government briefings.
PwC has not disclosed any clients involved in the scandal, and it is unclear if Google was a client of the firm at the time. Google has not responded to inquiries about its relationship with PwC Australia. PwC Australia has stated that its clients were not involved in any wrongdoing and that no confidential information was used to help clients evade taxes.
The scandal has resulted in the resignation of PwC Australia’s CEO Tom Seymour, the loss of several high-profile clients, and the sale of its government consulting division for a nominal amount. Tax officials have also reported foiling attempts by unnamed multinational firms to evade the anti-avoidance law, months after the leaked information became known.
Overall, the scandal has raised concerns about the handling of confidential information and the integrity of PwC Australia. Investigations are ongoing, and further developments are expected.
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