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Monday, January 07, 2013

Chris Jordan - "Tax Master with a Head for Politics"

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Before playing key roles in some of the biggest tax battles of recent decades, Chris Jordan dealt with conflicts of a different kind. Jordan chairs the Board of Taxation and yesterday stepped down as KPMG's chairman in NSW. He's been a top adviser to successive governments of both stripes. But decades ago, he was a policeman stationed on the north shore, in Chatswood.
"I used to go to these big mansions in Castlecrag, and I'd never been to a place that was so nice," says Jordan, who grew up in Maroubra, then a working-class area.Chris Jordan: "Tax Master with a Head for Politics"; Ministerial appointment

In January 2013, Mr Chris Jordan AO starts as Federal Commissioner of Taxation in charge of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). He follows Mr Michael D’Ascenzo AO, who was not reappointed after his seven-year term. Challenges Ahead

There never was a time when this country was more keenly dependent on an effective ATO. I haven’t mentioned the ageing of the Australian population, the attendant blow-out in health and social security costs, the attendant hit on tax receipts, and all the other trials awaiting our government and its next Commissioner of Taxation A perfect storm indeed

Even though Shakespeare has little to do with taxes, his almost prophetic understanding of human nature has much to teach us.

Media dragon scoop: Bell Shakespeare Company is likely to stage a play on a certain taxing times topics in Sydney this year ;-)
Writers commenting on tax policy sometimes have invoked the words of William Shakespeare to support their views. For example, earlier this year IRS attorneys mentioned Shakespeare in a field advice memorandum regarding the application of section 845 to offshore reinsurance transactions.1 The use of Shakespeare has become so frequent that in 2006 Tax Notes editor Robert Manning wrote an article explaining some of the Shakes- peare lines most commonly misused in writings about tax policy.Shakespeare context; A Tax Lawyer’s Interpretation of Shakespeare ; To Be (Core) or Not To Be (Core) - That is The question