Ethics board declares PwC tax case a ‘breach of standards’
A director of the independent standard setting board who works for PwC has denied any involvement in the matter.
The Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board (APESB) has described the PwC confidentiality leak incident as a “breach of ethical standards”.
All Australian accountants, including those who provide tax services, must abide by the APESB’s Code of Ethics and professional and ethical standards applicable to tax services.
The standards set out the requirements for the five fundamental principles of the Code of Ethics, integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour.
The APESB said in light of the open letter issued by PwC Australia and the publicly available information from the Tax Practitioners Board, a breach of ethical standards had occurred.
“From what we can ascertain from the publicly available information, APESB has not identified any shortcomings of its professional and ethical standards,” said the board.
“APESB will monitor and continue to assess the impact of this matter on its standards as information becomes available.”
“Any breach of ethical standards by accountants who are members of the professional bodies is a matter for the professional bodies or a relevant regulatory body to investigate and take action according to their findings.”
The APESB said while it was one of the standards setters within the accounting profession it had no role in monitoring or enforcing its standards.
The organisation said the investigation of the taxation practices at PwC would be undertaken by CA ANZ’s Professional Conduct Committee, the TPB and a senate inquiry in parliament.
The APESB said one of its non-executive directors who was an employee at PwC, Damien Moore, had not had any involvement in the tax leaks that the firm was currently facing.
Mr Moore was formerly a president of the IPA and was a director on the IPA board for 12 years before he was nominated by the firm for the APESB role.
“In March 2021, Mr Moore joined the PwC Adelaide office as a director and was not an employee of PwC prior to that date,” said APESB.
“Mr Moore has confirmed to APESB that he has no involvement with the historical tax work performed by PwC that predates his appointment, which is now part of the federal government’s enquiry.”
Founded in 2006 as an independent organisation, the APESB standards are applicable and mandatory for accounting professionals who are members of CA ANZ, CPA Australia or IPA and include those working in accounting firms of all sizes, the corporate sector, and in government.
About the author
