Google has denied confidential information leaked by PwC affected its compliance with Australian tax-avoidance laws.
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The tech giant has been identified as the first company directly involved in the PwC tax advice scandal, according to a Reuters report.
The consultancy firm has faced mounting criticism after then-partner Peter Collins leaked information from confidential government briefings about changes to tax-avoidance laws to colleagues.
That information was then used to generate money from clients.
Reuters said one of Mr Collins' colleagues told a Google employee the start date of the federal government's multinational anti-avoidance law.
While the start date of January 1, 2016 was earmarked in previous federal budget papers, the news agency reported Google received confirmation the laws were still set to go ahead from that date.
A spokesman for Google told AAP the tech giant did not circumvent the laws despite the information being passed on.
"While it is disappointing to learn that PwC had inappropriately shared information, it had no bearing on our compliance with the multinational anti-avoidance law," the spokesman said.
"The changes we made to our tax structure in Australia were done both after the new law was passed and after engaging directly with the Australian Tax Office."
Google is the only multinational tech company to sign up to Australia's voluntary tax transparency code, which it joined in 2018.
Corporate income tax paid by Google has tripled in Australia in the past six years, with its current annual tax charge standing at $122 million.
A spokesman for PwC said Google did not participate in any misconduct.
"PwC's clients were not involved in any wrongdoing and no confidential information was used to enable clients to pay less tax," the spokesman said.
Earlier this week, PwC agreed a deal to offload its troubled government consultancy arm for a nominal fee to private equity firm Allegro Funds.
A specialist government consultancy, Scyne Advisory, will be created when the sale is completed by the end of August.
PwC Australia has sacked 12 people since it was accused of abusing its trusted role as an adviser with the tax leak scandal.
Former chief executive Tom Seymour was officially shown the door on Monday.
Australian Associated Press
