A planned advisory board to oversee the operations of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has been slammed as being pointless and unnecessary by a senior ATO official.

 

Former treasury secretary Ken Henry floated the plan to establish the advisory board that would offer recommendations on future tax strategies.

 

Tax Ombudsman Allan Asher told the Australian Financial Review that he believed the planned body to be  “a fifth wheel on a carriage”, saying that the establishment of the advisory board would bring the total number of such boards to 23.

 

The planned body is likely to be a central subject in the forthcoming October Tax Forum, with Mr Henry planning to argue that the ATO currently holds too much power.

 

The Tax Forum will be held between in Canberra on 4 and 5 October.