Lendlease Australia responds to AFR article

As such, we think it’s important to establish the facts.

1. Tony Watson, a source of the story, did not provide tax advice to Lendlease on the partial sale of our retirement living business. Mr Watson’s employer replaced him as lead partner on our account in July 2014, three years prior to the transaction. 
2. Mr Watson previously contacted Lendlease about his claims and we organised for him to meet with senior leadership and a member of the Board to understand his point of view. Following that contact, we undertook a full review of our tax and accounting position using external advisers not previously involved with the matter. Based on this, we are satisfied Mr Watson’s claims are without merit.
3. Lendlease is not in dispute with the ATO on the tax treatment applied to the partial sale of our retirement living business. We believe our tax treatment is consistent with the ATO’s current guidance on the taxation of the retirement living industry.

 

More broadly, the ATO’s 2019 draft determination (TD 2019/D11) on two provisions of the capital gains tax rules is generic in nature and makes no reference to the retirement village industry. We understand the ATO has consulted with a range of stakeholders on the draft determination and we expect it will consult further with the retirement living industry.

Finally, we’d like to restate our commitment that acting with integrity in our tax affairs is core to our tax approach. We’re committed to paying the correct amount of tax in every country in which we operate. 

A link to our 2020 Tax Report can be found here