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PwC has confirmed that it privately settled with the Australian Tax Office (ATO) over an undisclosed matter, while the firm contended with a confidentiality breach within its ranks.
- PwC has confirmed it signed a private settlement with the Australian Tax Office in March
- At the time the firm was still claiming its confidentiality breach was contained to a single former partner
- The Treasurer said he was not aware of the arrangement, and would raise it with the ATO
The company has responded to questions by a New South Wales inquiry into consulting practices saying it signed a settlement with the ATO in March of this year.
At that time PwC was yet to disclose the full extent of a confidentiality breach at the firm, saying its tax leak scandal was contained to a single former partner.
PwC said it was not at liberty to discuss the terms of the settlement.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he was not aware of the details of the settlement, and would raise it with the ATO.
"What happened with PwC is an absolute disgrace, and governments should be able to consult with the private sector about changes that impact them, and what this episode has done is make it harder for governments to consult in good faith," Mr Chalmers said.
"We're doing a lot on this front. The specifics of that arrangement wasn't part of our consideration, obviously it is now, and we will talk to the ATO about it."
A former senior partner at PwC was referred to police after it was revealed he had shared confidential briefings from Treasury about a planned tax on multinationals with several PwC clients, allegedly selling them the details in order to help them get around the tax.
Since then, at least 50 people have become implicated in what a Senate inquiry described as a "calculated breach of trust", leading to the sacking of several more senior figures at the firm, including its Australian CEO.
The ATO has been scrutinised over why it took so long for the PwC breach to come to light, when the agency had known of a potential issue since 2016.
The ATO's boss Jeremy Hirschhorn told parliament in May it had assigned about 20 staff to look into the issue, but said secrecy provisions had prevented it from sharing what it knew with Treasury.
Mr Hirschhorn previously said the ATO and federal police had jointly decided not to press ahead with an investigation in 2019 due to a lack of information.