ATO accused of dumping tax bill for ex-PM Paul Keating's company

The Age

6 days ago

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has been accused of writing off more than $950,000 in penalties and interest owed by one of Paul Keating's investment companies after negotiations with the former prime minister and his advisers, the ABC reports.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Keating, but the report raises questions for the ATO about its treatment of the rich and powerful as any challenge to an ATO decision like this would usually require the aggrieved party to contest the matter in the Federal Court, according to the ABC Four Corners report.
Keating and the ATO have been contacted for comment.
The penalties and interest bill relate to the sale of a successful investment by Keating in Australian audio group Lake Technology with was sold to US group Dolby Laboratories in 2004 at a valuation of $23 million.
Keating was a major investor along with adman John Singleton.
'The Lake board runs the risk of doing another MIM; giving the company away to Americans who have been influenced by Lake's exceptionally poor management,' Keating said in 2003 as the takeover bid from Dolby got under way.
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According to the ABC report, the interest and penalties bill was issued after the ATO discovered in 2012 that one of Keating's companies, Brenlex had not reported profits from a Lake Technology share sale and owed $446,000 in tax.
Brenlex agreed to pay the tax debt, but the ATO demanded – at that stage – more than $600,000 in interest and penalties which had accrued in the years since the share sale.