EY runs ‘a very different tax practice’ to PwC
EY has told a Senate inquiry that the firm runs “a very different tax practice” to PwC and does not have “partners roaming the market with solutions looking for problems”.
EY Oceania’s tax and law leader, Scott Grimley, told the inquiry examining consultants that the firm instead offers “sustainable solutions for clients around complex tax problems”.
EY Oceania’s tax and law leader, Scott Grimley.
“[From] a tax perspective, we run a very different tax practice. We run a tax account leader model where partners are dedicated to working with clients to understand their issues,” Mr Grimley said during a public hearing held in Canberra on Tuesday.
“We do not have a model of partners roaming the market with solutions looking for problems.”
The inquiry, which was triggered by PwC’s tax leaks scandal, has finished two further days of public hearings, during which representatives from Deloitte, EY and Accenture were asked about previously private aspects of their operations.
The scandal, first revealed by The Australian Financial Review, involved former PwC tax partner Peter Collins sharing confidential government information that was used to advise clients how to sidestep new Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law (MAAL) laws.
The matter has led to wholesale change in the leadership of PwC, multiple inquiries and investigations and the fire sale of its public sector consulting business to private equity investor Allegro Funds for $1.
In May, former acting chief executive Kristin Stubbins acknowledged that the firm’s tax division had a “culture of aggressive marketing” and a “drive for growth” during the time that the leaks matter occurred.
In Tuesday’s hearing, Mr Grimley said that EY’s tax division kept in mind the “intent” of tax
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