ASX-listed real estate group Lendlease intends to fight a newly issued A$112m ($122.8m) tax bill, following allegations from a whistleblower that it had double dipped on tax benefits on the partial sale of its Retirement Living business in the 2018 financial year.
The Australian Financial Review reported that former external tax adviser turned whistleblower Anthony Watson told Lendlease that their tax scheme was “straight fraud” and advised against it, but he was sacked and replaced by PwC, which cleared the tax deductions.
Watson estimated the liability from the alleged double dipping could reach as high as A$300m.
Lendlease is arguing that it acted in accordance with tax law and was keen to point out that ATO’s new position “was that certain liabilities assumed by Lendlease should be excluded from the tax cost base when calculating the gain.
“The ATO adjustments do not relate to deductions claimed by Lendlease,” the company said in a release to the ASX.
Inflation remains volatile, with food prices up 0.6% in April, compared with March, marking the first monthly increase in three months.
Stats NZ said the increase was led by grocery food, including higher prices for potato chips, chocolate, and olive oil, offset slightly by cheaper fruit and vegetables.
In addition, café and restaurant food prices also increased in April.
On an annual basis, food prices rose 0.8% in the year ended April.
Meanwhile, Stats NZ said international airfares rose 7.2% last month. Overall, international airfares were nearly 48% more expensive than five years ago.
New Zealand’s services sector continued to contract in April, reaching the lowest level of activity since January 2022.
The BNZ-BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index fell to 47.1 last month. A reading below 50 indicated contraction.
Activity and sales improved slightly to 46.5, while new orders and business fell again. Notably, employment dropped to the lowest level since February 2022.
The proportion of negative comments from businesses increased to over 66%, noting difficult trading conditions and lingering inflation pressures.
On Friday, data showed the manufacturing sector remained in contraction territory for the 14th consecutive month.