Facing the dragon in his lair presentation

Published on 13 Mar 13 by NATIONAL DIVISION, THE TAX INSTITUTE

When you need to deal with the Commissioner’s officers you would be well advised to know something about them. In this presentation, Martin Keating explores the formal guidelines within which they work, but also relates, with the assistance of some anonymised anecdotes, his first hand observations of someindividual attitudes and group dynamics that officers commonly display. Against this background, Martin then goes on to make some suggestions about how practitioners might best deal with tax officers on a case by case basis, finishing with a few comments about how representative bodies like The Tax Institute can fine tune their representations regarding perceptions of the ATO’s shortcomings in these regards.

Author profile

Martin Keating

Martin, in the early part of his career at the Australian Taxation Office, served as an auditor, then an Appeals officer, finishing his time at Cannington Office as Head of Appeals. Soon after, he joined the Tax Counsel Network, from which he retired in 1992. In these capacities he has assisted officers at interviews and otherwise on countless occasions, including dealings ranging from those with individuals through to those involving the most sophisticated professional advisers. Since 2013 Martin has been employed as a Director at PwC, in an occasional capacity. - Current at 17 June 2019

More by Martin KEATING

• Facing the dragon in his lair paper - 13-March-2013
• Part IVA paper - 12-August-2010
• Tax Office thinking on some topical and emerging CGT issues paper - 24-August-2006
• In Search of the True Demerger: Boundary Issues with Division 125 seminar paper - 22-August-2003
• Apportionment issues, including business commencement and cessation seminar paper - 12-June-2003
• Contractors - 22-May-1997

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