ATO

PricewaterhouseCoopers has objected to swathes of evidence from the Commissioner of Taxation being included in an upcoming trial over privilege, claiming the material oversteps a process put in place by the court to only examine a small sample of documents.

South Australian mining magnate Bob Johnson faced court Friday charged over a scheme to defraud the federal government of $38.5 million in taxes.

Tabcorp and its Tatts unit have filed three proceedings against the ATO this year, with the gambling giants asking the court to allow a total of $538 million in deductions for gambling licences in three states over three financial years.

The ATO is challenging a judge's decision to allow oil giant Shell Australia $2.2 billion in deductions for the cost of certain exploration activities conducted under an acquisition that increased its stake in Woodside Energy's Browse Basin gas exploration joint venture project.

Tabcorp-owned Tatts Group has appealed a finding from the Commissioner of Taxation that it cannot deduct a $120 million lotto licence from it assessable income for the 2017 financial year.

Investors who entrusted their retirement savings to deceased fraudster Melissa Caddick may launch a class action against the auditors that signed off on financial statements for the funds.

The High Court has denied the ATO's request that it weigh in on Australia's transfer pricing regime, leaving in place a Full Court victory for mining giant Glencore that left it paying $2 million of a $92 million bill relating to the sale of copper from a mine in Cobar, NSW.

Fossil fuel giant Shell Australia has partially won a challenge to a tax office decision denying deductions claimed over an acquisition the increased the company's stake in Woodside Energy's Browse Basin gas exploration joint venture project.

The federal government has cut the budget for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission by $62.7 million in tandem with the regulator's corporate registry being shifted to the ATO, but a legal expert told Lawyerly the cut could also signal a movement away from the "why not litigate" approach adopted in the wake of the banking royal commission.

Tabcorp-owned Tatts Group has launched legal proceedings against the Australian Taxation Office seeking to set aside an "excessive" decision barring over $393 million in tax deductions for 2013 when the company was master agent of SA Lotteries.