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Facebook has agreed to pay a $20 million penalty for misleading consumers by representing that its discontinued Onavo Protect mobile app would keep users’ personal activity data private, when in fact it was being collected for commercial use.

Notional GST payments by local councils under an intergovernmental agreement with the Commonwealth are a voluntary act, not an impermissible tax in breach of the Constitution, the High Court has ruled.

The former chief financial officer of Big Un has become the third person to be charged with insider trading connected to shares in the defunct video producer.

Armaguard and rival Prosegur have secured authorisation for their proposed merger from the ACCC, which has found the likely reduction in competition in the cash transport industry was outweighed by the public benefits of the transaction.

Johnson Winter Slattery has appointed senior tax specialist Don Spirason, former Vice President of Tax at BHP, as a special counsel based in Melbourne. Spirason joins JWS with more than 20 years’ tax experience, including more than 10 years at BHP and 5 years at Foster’s Group. Beginning his career at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, he…

A report alleging that the ATO asked the Tax Practitioner Board to curtail its investigation of a PwC tax leaks scandal was “fundamentally misleading”, a senior tax official has said.

Executives from KPMG have condemned the PwC tax breach scandal as ‘disturbing’ and admitted past mistakes after the firm was rocked by an exam cheating scandal.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has copped a record $3.55 million penalty for breaching spam laws after it sent more than 65 million emails without an easy way for individuals to unsubscribe.

ANZ has rubbished arguments from a competitor and the ACCC that its merger with Suncorp’s banking arm will reduce competition and hurt consumers, saying the watchdog had been asked to believe a “distorted and selective view” of the proposal.

Climate justice groups have launched a challenge to federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek’s decision to expand two proposed mega coal mines in NSW, arguing her refusal to accept the scientific evidence of climate risk was irrational and unlawful.