Australian tax office investigates possible crimes overseas in PwC scandal

Australian tax authorities have said they are working with international counterparts to trace any possible crimes outside the country related to the PwC tax leak scandal.

Jeremy Hirschhorn, second commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office, told a new Senate hearing on the consulting industry that the regulator has the power to share with overseas counterparts “information and concerns about potential offenses in other jurisdictions that may be triggered by some of these”. May be.” Behaviour”.

The public inquiry follows the revelation that a PwC partner involved in developing laws designed to crack down on multinational tax avoidance shared confidential information with colleagues who won business based on his guidance.

The Senate last month released internal PwC emails showing partners within Australia and internationally discussed the use of confidential information.

PwC officials are due to speak at the current hearing, followed by officials from the Treasury, the tax watchdog and the Tax Office.

Hirschhorn answered questions from lawmakers about the impact of the PwC confidentiality breach on Australia’s “cutting-edge” role in creating laws to stop multinationals from tax avoidance using complex structures spread across different countries.

“Those emails clearly show that the international tax network within PwC was working internationally to sabotage the development of Australian law or the application of the law,” Hirschhorn said.

PwC was under pressure to release a full list of partners who were involved in the emails and the clients who potentially benefited from its advice.

The firm provided a list of 63 names to senators earlier in the week, as well as four former partners who were said to have been involved in the exchange of information and nine partners who were kept pending by counsel. Results of one are pending. Review.

A PwC spokesperson said: “It is important to us to respect the ongoing investigation and legal processes to ensure a proper investigation of this matter, and that is what we are doing.”