Australian Consolidated Press

Summit push to cut ATO powers

The Group of 100, who will be delegates to tomorrow's tax forum, are pushing for the ATO to appoint people from the private sector as assistant commissioners so that it has a greater understanding of companies.

In an exclusive interview with The Australian, Consolidated Press Holdings finance director and Crown board member Michael Johnston said improving the oversight of the tax office was the number one concern for the group.

As well as greater oversight of the ATO, Mr Johnston will push for alternatives to the private ruling system -- used for complex matters and legally binding -- which is costly and cumbersome.

The G100 also wants a new management board to advise the ATO on its strategy, a move the government pledged in February.

"We think one of the screaming needs at the present time is to focus on tax administration and get it working more smoothly.

"We have to be realistic and say it's one of the harder jobs in the world. Equally, there is a sense of frustration because there is not a focus on providing clarity to taxpayers."

Mr Johnston, who is on the G100 national executive, will be among the almost 200 people participating in the tax forum.

The group's push reflects concerns in the business community that since the global financial crisis the ATO has been more aggressive in its pursuit of companies. Business complains it faces increased uncertainty about tax.

Among the concerns is that when conducting transactions it takes too long to get rulings, and these are often biased towards reaping revenue.

More recently, business is frustrated that the ATO has ramped up its audit compliance activities.

Some companies are irritated that the ATO has increasingly made use of "risk profiling" that targets companies that the ATO considers to be unco-operative or not transparent.

The private sector also says the ATO is too intrusive, frowning upon claims by companies wanting to shield themselves behind claims of legal professional privilege or board work paper privilege.

Ita Buttrose | John's Health Blog

Ita Buttrose is an exceptional Australian, who has led in so many different theatres of endeavour as a businesswoman, journalist, author, motivational keynote speaker, advisor to corporate, community and welfare; and as a director. Twice voted Australia’s most admired woman, Ita began her distinguished career as a copygirl on The Australian Women’s Weekly when she was 15; by 21 she was the magazine’s Social Editor and by 33 had become the Weekly’s Editor, its youngest ever — a distinction she still holds today. Under her editorship the Weekly broke through the one million copies sold barrier for the first time (it was then a weekly and not a monthly) setting new publishing records in this country and making the Weekly, per capita of population, the highest circulating magazine in the world. Rupert Murdoch recognised Ita Buttrose’s special skills by appointing her Editor-in-Chief of his Sydney Daily and Sunday Telegraphs — making her the first women to ever edit a major metropolitan newspaper in Australia — and inviting her to join the board of News Limited, Australia; the first Australian woman to become a director of this world-wide media group. After a distinguished career with both Australian Consolidated Press and News Limited, Ita started her own publishing company and created ITA Magazine as well as doing publishing work for such clients as David Jones, Telstra, and the Australian Tax Office for whom her company created the first TaxPack.

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