Tax Risk Governance: The Corporate and Personal Dimensions

Abstract

As the saying goes we live in extraordinary times. The Australian economy is in its sixteenth consecutive year of expansion averaging around 4% GDP growth - a phenomenon quite unprecedented in Australia's post war economic history. Much of the recent growth is directly or indirectly associated with the mining boom and therefore being driven by the large business sector and the global economy. In this environment corporate profits have been rising sharply. Both profits and revenue have been growing faster than the underlying growth in GDP. With growth and a global market place has come increased complexity. For corporates, the challenge is to ensure that this complexity is managed within the company's overall risk management and governance framework. The challenge for the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is to facilitate easier, cheaper and more responsive tax and superannuation compliance arrangements for large business, allowing companies to get on with business, so to speak.