Move to break ATO ‘culture of secrecy’ welcomed

afr.com:

Former ATO deputy commissioner Mark Konza has welcomed moves to relax the secrecy provisions that helped keep the PwC tax scandal hidden for five years.

Mr Konza said the “strong culture of secrecy” meant the Tax Office was reluctant to share information with other government bodies unless there was a clear disclosure exemption under section 355 of the Tax Administration Act.

The ATO said legal advice meant it could not raise specific concerns with Treasury from late 2017 about former PwC partner Peter Collins breaching confidentiality agreements on the development of multinational tax laws.

Former ATO deputy commissioner Mark Konza. 

The Albanese government announced on Sunday, as part ofits response to the tax leaks scandal, that Treasury would “consider whether there are further circumstances in which it is in the broad public interest for information obtained by these regulators to be shared with other regulatory agencies”.

Mr Konza, who is now a consultant at law firm Minter Ellison, said it was “a good idea to carefully consider the tax secrecy provisions”.

“While secrecy is very important part of our tax system, it is clear that the constraints on the commissioner didn’t allow him to give the advice to Treasury that the community expected,” Mr Konza said.

“The tax secrecy provisions are tight and have specified exemptions and so its little wonder the commissioner wasn’t able to find wiggle room in them – especially when there could be jail penalties [of up to two years] for their breach.

“People who say the commissioner’s officers should have ‘pushed the envelope’ or ‘had a word’ clearly haven’t considered the potential penalties.”

Under the TAA, it is a criminal offence to disclose “protected information” unless