Two people said PwC Australia sent Google (GOOGL.O) private information about the commencement date of a new tax law leaked from Australian government tax briefings.
The first corporation directly related to the national scandal involving the “big four” accounting firm was uncovered in January.
PwC is under fire because some years ago, a former partner, Peter Collins, who advised the Australian government on anti-tax evasion measures, shared sensitive drafts with colleagues about the government’s plans, which were then used to solicit business from foreign firms.
According to one source, a coworker emailed a Google employee in August 2015 to check the government’s Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law (MAAL) commencement date.
The government’s budget papers disclosed the law’s Jan. 1, 2016 start date in May 2015, but classified government briefings confirmed it, the person said.
Several organizations urged the government to delay the January 2016 start date.
The source stated the ex-partner did not inform Google of the confidentiality. The sources requested anonymity because the information is not public.
Collins breached government confidentiality agreements between 2013 and 2018, sparking the crisis. PwC has not officially identified any client.
Reuters could not determine if Google was a PwC Australia client or used the information. Google did not address its relationship with PwC Australia.
PwC Australia said its customers “were not involved in any wrongdoing and no confidential information was used to enable clients to pay less tax” in response to questions about its relationship with Google.
Collins was unavailable for comment. The controversy pulled out PwC Australia’s CEO Tom Seymour, cost it at least five high-profile clients, and forced the sale of its lucrative government consulting wing for A$1 ($0.66).
After receiving a 144-page cache of PwC emails from the Tax Practitioners Board, parliamentarians probing the issue ordered PwC to disclose corporations given classified Australian Taxation Office anti-avoidance law material.
PwC wrote back in June. The letter with the company’s name obscured fits what sources told Reuters.
Tax officials told lawmakers in May that they stopped many multinational businesses from subverting the multinational anti-avoidance rule in early 2016, months after secret information surfaced.
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