Australia’s former head of international tax at consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has been referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for criminal investigation, over his involvement in leaking confidential government tax plans to clients and staff.
Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy released a statement on Wednesday night confirming his department had referred the matter to the AFP.
“PwC Australia’s former head of international tax, Mr Peter Collins, improperly used confidential Commonwealth information,” he said.
“The emails that the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) tabled in Parliament on 2 May 2023 highlighted the significant extent of the unauthorised disclosure of confidential Commonwealth information and the wide range of individuals within PwC who were directly and indirectly privy to the confidential information.
“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.”
The emails tabled to parliament detailed evidence from the Tax Practitioner Board’s (TPB) investigation, showing Mr Collins shared confidential information on government plans to combat multinational tax avoidance with clients, staff, and partners within the firm.
The TPB has banned Mr Collins from acting as a tax practitioner until next year.
Greens senator Barbara Pocock, who advocated for the matter to be referred to the AFP, welcomed the update.
“Now we need to know when Labor will commit to a ban on PwC contracts, support for a full investigation by the NACC and an end to political donations from big consultants.”
“The bigger question remains, are we looking at just the tip of the iceberg; What is going on in the larger industry of big consulting?”
“The Senate inquiry into the integrity of consultants has important work ahead of it.”
