En Passant

As a former Assistant Commissioner of Taxation it seems clear to me that the current Commissioner of Taxation has failed in his duty to protect ordinary workers. I call on him, and the gaggle of executives he has gathered around him who are currently destroying the ATO, to resign immediately.

After sacking 4500 tax officers, the Commissioner of Taxation now doesn’t have enough staff to police employer compliance with superannuation laws. The bosses are ripping off $3.6 bn every year from 2.4 million workers. The Commissioner of Taxation and the gaggle of his executives destroying the Tax Office should resign.

This is the link to the Canberra Times letters on Thursday. My letter on the Commissioner of Taxation, and asking questions about how sacking 20% of Tax Office staff improves the fight against tax avoidance. It is a bit over 2/3rds of the way down.

Saving money, the driver for cutting the ATO staff by 20%, is also the driver of big business tax avoidance. Business tax avoidance is systemic. It requires a systemic response, not Tax Office staff cuts.

Given that both Joe Hockey and Chris Jordan are possibly undermining the work of the Senate and this committee by not providing the names of the tax rorters, and supporting that decision, the question has to be asked: Are the Treasurer and the Commissioner of Taxation in contempt of the Senate and the Committee? If so, why aren’t their actions being investigated with a view to prosecution?

This may be the logic. Trickle down will increase revenue. The less tax we collect today from companies will magically produce more economic activity in the future. So having people in charge of the Australian Tax Office who ‘understand’ business and the realities they face is just what capital needs. To business, tax is just another cost and the lower the costs the higher the profit and the better off all of us will be

I believe in Santa Claus too.

If the Minister wants to protect his mates, the lurks and perks men and women misusing contractor arrangements, then change the law instead of issuing diktats to independent officials.

Has newly appointed Commissioner of Taxation Chris Jordan been involved in tax avoidance arrangements for his clients or even himself? Will he, for example, release his tax returns for the last ten years?

Such is Labor’s degeneration they have handed the tax collecting role to a person whose whole working life has been representing the interests of big business in general in policy debates and discussions and defending specific big businesses when battling the ATO. Jordan would almost certainly be someone who has undertaken tax planning for his big business clients and the rich. One has to wonder if he has been involved in tax avoidance schemes. Neoliberal madness.

Tax Office staff are in shock over the Labor Government’s axing of the Commissioner of Taxation, Michael D’Ascenzo. More shocks are in store. What better way to gut the Tax Office than for business to appoint one of their own to lead it? Is there an alternative? Yes. Tax the rich and give the ATO enough funding for it to do its job as the collector of tax rather than the handmaiden of business. Make the rich pay. That is something Labor won’t do.