Australia Bill Tackling Tax Avoidance Schemes Moves Forward

The Australian government will introduce Thursday a bill sharply hiking penalties for promoting tax avoidance to deter tax adviser misconduct, in a response to the Pricewaterhouse Coopers tax leak scandal.

The PwC scandal exposed shortcomings in the country’s regulation of accountants which had undermined confidence in its tax systems, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said in a Wednesday statement.

• Maximum penalties for advisers and firms, including large global firms, that promote tax avoidance schemes will increase from A$7.8 million ($5 million) to over A$780 million as a result of the bill.
• Regulators would be given more time to investigate and lay ...