By Noel Towell and Kishor Napier-Raman
The Australian Taxation Office has opened its books – as much as it ever does – this week on the tax rates paid by the very well-remunerated partners in the embattled consulting firm PwC and fellow consulting giants Deloitte, EY and KPMG that comprise the “Big Four”.
The numbers were supplied as a response to a question by enthusiastic PwC pursuer, Greens senator Barbara Pocock.
Second commissioner of taxation Jeremy Hirschhorn explained that he didn’t have the resources to delve into the tax affairs of each of the about 2900 partners in the four firms in an effort to provide a big sweep answer to Pocock’s questions.
But the second commissioner was able to disclose that the main partnerships paid out about $1.7 billion to their partners in the 2021-2022 financial year – $200 million of it into family trusts or other “associated entities”.
Another $1 billion was paid out to partners by “service trusts” and other entities associated with the firms. Those payments, Hirschhorn explained, would only rarely appear on the tax return of the individual partner.
It’s that figure that caught Pocock’s eye. She told CBD it was “astounding”.
“In PwC alone in 2022 FY there were 312 partners who were earning over $800,000 and stood to gain significant tax advantage through their use of family or service trusts to divert portions of their income,” the South Australian senator said.
Pocock went on to talk about “pure greed” and “aggressive minimisation of personal income tax” – which our Big Four sources, not authorised to speak publicly, felt was drawing a bow – and the senator is keen for a “crackdown”. We love a good crackdown here at CBD.
On the record, PwC weren’t interested in commenting but pointed us towards their annual transparency report which notes their partners pay an average tax rate of 37 per cent.
EY didn’t want to go there either, and it was a no comment from Deloitte.
But a KPMG spokesperson said: “We have strong governance and policies in place to help ensure that tax affairs are conducted in accordance with ATO policy and relevant laws and regulations.”
GONE NATION
Moonee Valley councillors had no idea, as they filed into chambers for Tuesday night’s meeting, that they were attending a surprise farewell for one of their own.
But Councillor Cam Nation – who calls himself “Councillor Cam” – chose the occasion to spring on his colleagues that he was pulling the pin after nearly 12 years on the council, saying he couldn’t keep up with the demands of being a councillor while chasing new career opportunities and was resigning, effective immediately.
It’s not unheard of for councillors – paid around $30,000-a-year for their efforts and usually balancing a day job too – to chuck the towel in early, but Nation’s resignation is interesting timing.
Councillor Cam was one of three Moonee Valley councillors – along with Narelle Sharpe and Jacob Bettio – who this masthead revealed in August last year had had their homes raided and phones seized by Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission investigators as part of an integrity probe involving a local soccer club. A fourth councillor, Samantha Byrne, also arranged to meet IBAC at another location and handed over her phone.
The corruption watchdog’s inquiries are ongoing – IBAC would tell us nothing on Wednesday and Nation says he hasn’t heard from them in months – and The Age does not suggest any of the councillors or club members have acted improperly.
But Nation’s fellow councillors were obviously surprised by his mic drop moment on Tuesday night. He beamed in on Zoom to tell the chamber – four minutes into the meeting – he was quitting.
After a farewell spiel referencing his multiple recent overseas trips and new home being built outside the municipality, Nation wrapped things up by making the peace gesture and saying “Ciao, I’m out” before logging off Zoom.
“Oh he’s literally gone,” said a visibly shocked Deputy Mayor Narelle Sharpe, who was chairing the meeting, to bemused laughter in the chamber.
“Um, ok. Well ... I wasn’t expecting any of that obviously”.
REBEL’S TELL ALL PUT ON HOLD
Australian-born Hollywood star Rebel Wilson has delayed the publication of her memoir, amid tensions with former co-star Sacha Baron Cohen over claims expected to be made in the book.
Rebel Wilson in a feud with Borat, aka Sasha Baron Cohen.Credit: Shakespeare
The autobiography, Rebel Rising, was slated for publication on April 3, followed by a promotional tour in May with events scheduled for Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
But the book’s publisher, HarperCollins, said on Wednesday that the book’s publication and review copies would not be made available as planned.
On March 16, Wilson posted a reel to Instagram promoting the book. She mentioned that chapter 23 explored Baron Cohen’s behaviour towards her, though at that point he had not yet been identified.
“I worked with a massive a--hole and yeah, now I definitely have a no a--holes policy,” the actor and comedian wrote.
Wilson then took to social media to name Baron Cohen, writing he was “trying to stop press coming out about my new book”, although there has been no confirmation that the delay in publication is due to the dispute between the two stars.
A spokesperson for Baron Cohen told US TV network CNN on Tuesday that Wilson’s claims – which relate to the period in 2016 when the two performers worked together on UK production The Brothers Grimsby – were untrue and “directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence”.
HarperCollins said on Wednesday afternoon that it could not comment further on the delayed publication.