Tom Adams

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Tom Adams

Executive

null

Alcoa’s Pinjarra aluminium refinery, Western Australia

Michael D’Ascenzo, then the commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), described the annual compliance agreement (ACA), which Tom Adams, the finance and business services director of the Australian unit of Alcoa, the multinational aluminium producer, signed on behalf of the company with the Australian Taxation Office on October 30 2012 as historic. It was the first ACA to cover all four taxes: income tax, goods and services tax (GST), fringe benefits tax and excise tax - fuel tax credits. The ATO introduced ACAs in 2008 as an administrative arrangement defining and governing the compliance relationship between it and taxpayers.

“Alcoa is a significant taxpayer in Australia. Achieving this arrangement on four taxes is a great example of our commitment to good corporate governance,” said Alcoa’s managing director in Australia, Alan Cransberg.

“We welcome the ATO’s scrutiny and are open to review of our corporate compliance measures. This sends a strong message to government, and to any other organisation that deals with us, that we are doing the right thing as an Australian company. This commitment by Alcoa also sends a strong message to our own employees by reinforcing that we are an open and values based company.

“Other large organisations have entered into an ACA but Alcoa is the first to sign on four separate taxes, and the first company in Western Australia to enter into any kind of ACA.”

The next ACA to be signed in Australia came two months later when BAE Systems signed one. Though it was not as comprehensive as Alcoa’s as it only covered income tax and GST, the example set by the US company showed that it was possible to finalise an ACA with the ATO.

The Global Tax 50 2013

« Previous

Shinzo Abe

View the complete list

Next »

Danny Alexander

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

If the Reform leader becomes UK prime minister then he may follow the direction of the US in at least one significant way
Trump declared a new national emergency in issuing the order; in other news, Grant Thornton Germany is up for sale and the subject of interest from both its UK and US counterparts
The judgment, which saw Denmark's Supreme Court rely on OECD TP guidance, sets aside more than 15 years of consistent administrative practice, experts have told ITR
Belgium’s new coalition government has gone ahead with a new exit tax regime that could land it in the courts
Brazil’s government has not officially framed the bill as a countermeasure amid trade tensions with the US, but the move is being considered as part of Brazil’s strategic response, one expert tells ITR
Understanding India’s income tax landscape can help charities ensure compliance, optimise tax benefits, and enhance their impact, writes Raghav Bajaj of Khaitan & Co
Tax advisers in Brazil are rising above the country’s notoriously complex tax system to deliver high-quality advisory services, ITR’s exclusive in-house data reveals
ITR’s data has highlighted the US firm’s ambition to become America’s ‘premier’ tax player via a concerted partner recruitment strategy
Jaap Zwaan’s arrival continues a recent streak of A&M Tax investing in the region; in other news, the US and Japan struck a deal that significantly lowered tariff rates
In a world where international tax concepts rely on human activity, Leonard Wagenaar poses existential questions about the future of such ideas when AI is ever-present
Gift this article