Good corporate governance should integrate tax risk management at all levels of decision making.
The ATO has developed a 'guide' aimed toward large and complex corporations, tax consolidated groups and foreign multinational corporations conducting business in Australia.
The guide is intended to provide directors with the ATO's best practice benchmarks so that directors may:
- Develop or improve their own tax governance and internal control framework;
- Test the robustness of the design of their framework against the ATO's best practice benchmarks; and
- Understand how to demonstrate the operational effectiveness of their key internal controls to their stakeholders, including the ATO.
Topics covered in the guide include:
- Director's summary
- Board-level responsibilities
- Managerial-level responsibilities
- Tax control frameworks for medium and small corporations
- How to test controls
- Self-assessment procedures for reviewers
What is tax risk? The risk that companies may be paying or accounting for an incorrect amount of tax; or The risk that tax positions a company adopts do not align with the tax risk appetite that the directors have authorised or believe is prudent.
Read more: https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Large-business/In-detail/Key-products-and-resources/Tax-risk-management-and-governance-review-guide/