New Panama Papers Leak Renews Call to Government to Stop Giving Billions in Public Money to ‘Masterminds’ of Multinational Tax Avoidance

June 22, 2018

Almost 10,000 Members Of Consumer Group SumOfUs Say Federal Government Must Stop Outsourcing to ‘Big Four’ Accounting Firms - The Architects Of Tax Avoidance Schemes

Melbourne, Australia—A new Panama Papers leak has led to renewed calls from almost 10,000 members of SumOfUs, an international consumer group, to freeze all government contracts with the ‘Big Four’ accounting and consulting firms over the firms’ central role as engineers of multinational tax avoidance strategies.

The new leak of over 1.2 million documents from the firm at the centre of the Panama Papers tax scandal shows the sheer scale of multinational tax avoidance. Accounting firms Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC concoct these tax avoidance strategies but are ignored as culprits.

In the wake of this leak, SumOfUs members in Australia are urging the Government to stop outsourcing contracts to ‘Big Four’. While the ‘Big Four’ continue to have tax haven connections that are robbing everyday Australians of money that could fund schools and hospitals in their local communities, the Government should not be offering billions in public money in exchange for their consulting services.

The ‘Big Four’ accounting firms are some of the largest beneficiaries of Commonwealth consulting contracts, amassing over $2.6bn in fees over the last 10 years.
It is estimated that over the same period $50bn has been gutted from Australian tax revenues through corporate tax avoidance schemes pushed by the same firms.

VIEW THE PETITION HERE: https://sumofus.org/big-four/

Nick Haines, Senior Campaigner at SumOfUs, explains:

“In the wake of this new Panama Papers leak, almost 10,000 Australian members of SumOfUs , an international consumer group, are renewing calls to the Government to stop giving billions of our public money to the ‘Big Four’ accounting firms that are the principal architects of multinational tax avoidance.

Everyday, hard-working Australians are getting ripped off. This money could be going into our local communities to fund much needed public services like schools and hospital beds.

Instead our Government is rewarding the ‘masterminds’ of multinational tax avoidance’’, Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC, with billions in Government contracts. This has to end now.”