Keith Swan

Keith is a Partner in Tax Dispute Resolution & Controversy KPMG's Tax & Legal division.

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Upcoming webinar: When tax authorities come knocking 18 May 2026 This webinar, to be held on Thursday 21 May, will explore strategies to pre-empt escalation and manage controversy arising from information gathering by tax authorities.	Upcoming webinar: Managing scrutiny on foreign investment exits 25 March 2026 This webinar, to be held on Thursday 26 March, will examine various controversy risks that can arise on foreign-investment exits, and the practical steps leaders can take to prepare, respond, and resolve matters effectively.	A rare stay of tax recovery proceedings: Commissioner of Taxation v Ho 24 March 2026 The decision in Commissioner of Taxation v Ho [2026] NSWSC 247 illustrates the scope of the Court’s discretionary power to grant a stay of recovery proceedings in exceptional circumstances, as outlined by Kristie Schubert and Keith Swan.
ATO releases decision impact statement on PepsiCo tax case 20 March 2026 The overall framing of the statement is broadly consistent with our expectations given the outcome of the landmark tax case, as highlighted by Paul Sorrell, Jennifer Ta, Keith Swan, Jeremy Capes and Amanda Maguire.	High Court rules in favour of PepsiCo in landmark tax case 21 August 2025 In a significant ruling, the High Court of Australia has dismissed the Commissioner of Taxation’s appeal against PepsiCo, finding there to be no royalty withholding tax liability and no application of the diverted profits tax.	The Pricing Conversation: Justified Trust and transfer pricing controversies 7 July 2025 The Top 100 and Top 1000 Findings Reports indicate that transfer pricing continues to be a hot topic area for the ATO, as highlighted by Tim Keeling and Keith Swan.
A cautionary tale for objecting against a private ruling 27 March 2025 Although private rulings can provide certainty, there are important considerations for those preparing or contesting a private ruling, as a recent case illustrates.	Decision Impact Statement issued in Mylan Part IVA case 4 March 2025 As outlined by Kristie Schubert, Julian Humphrey, Stacey Hannam, Keith Swan and Emilia Galluccio, the Commissioner has provided detailed commentary on the implications of the Federal Court decision, summarising key technical issues that are likely to be relevant to other taxpayers.	Insights from the Top 500 and Next 5,000 Findings Reports 12 December 2024 The ATO reiterated the importance of tax governance processes, noting basic tax errors would decrease through the implementation of a documented tax governance framework, as discussed by Keith Swan, Belinda Cheesewright, Blake Indian, Aylin Harapoz and Sydney Karampour.
Video: Inter-company financing and Transfer Pricing Controversy 11 December 2024 With two significant cross-border financing cases handed down in favour of the Commissioner, Tim Keeling and Keith Swan discuss how the ATO have reacted to these cases and why the importance of evidence cannot be understated.	Uber succeeds in NSW Supreme Court, with payments to drivers not deemed wages 10 September 2024 As highlighted by Keith Swan, Melissa Bader and Emilia Galluccio, this decision illustrates why businesses that engage contractors should review their arrangements and consider the application of the contractor provisions.	Commissioner of Taxation v PepsiCo: Commissioner seeks special leave to appeal to High Court 15 August 2024 In the latest development, the Commissioner has filed an application for special leave to appeal the recent Full Federal Court decision in PepsiCo, Inc v Commissioner of Taxation [2024] FCAFC 86 to the High Court of Australia.
PepsiCo appeal: a win for the taxpayer on royalty withholding tax and diverted profits tax matters 28 June 2024 As highlighted by Keith Swan and Jennifer Ta, this judgement brings out several important points about evidencing and documenting negotiations when concluding commercial arrangements.	Payroll tax payable by mortgage aggregator on commissions paid to brokers, court finds 24 April 2024 This decision is significant for taxpayers within the financial services industry, in particular those operating aggregator businesses within the mortgage space, as outlined by Keith Swan.	Full Federal Court sides with Minerva in Part IVA decision 15 March 2024 As detailed by Keith Swan, Kristie Schubert and Alice Chow, the decision provides a useful summary of the principles to be applied in considering the application of the general anti-avoidance provision in Part IVA.
Reasons for judgment on PepsiCo case released 8 December 2023 While the facts of the PepsiCo Case concern a specific bottling arrangement, the principles of the case will likely have wider implications for a broad range of arrangements involving intangible assets.	Federal Court hands down decision in PepsiCo case, reasons to follow 1 December 2023 The decision is expected to have far-reaching consequences as it considers the application of Australia's diverted profits tax and support for the Commissioner’s position regarding the existence of embedded royalties.	Podcast episode 46: Payroll tax rulings, amnesties for certain Australian medical centres 18 September 2023 KPMG Partners Keith Swan and Nathan Hamilton, along with Senior Manager Farzana Ahmed, discuss what the recently announced payroll tax rulings and amnesties in certain states and territories mean for taxpayers.
New harmonised payroll tax rulings for medical practices may raise more questions than answers 16 August 2023 The rulings consider that the relevant contract provisions in the Payroll Tax Acts will generally be expected to apply where a medical centre engages a practitioner to practice from its medical centre, as explained by Keith Swan, Nathan Hamilton, Alston Kam and Farzana Ahmed.	Significant expansion of Australia’s general anti-avoidance rule in Part IVA – what does this mean for multinationals? 10 May 2023 Taxpayers should review all of their historical, existing and prospective cross-border arrangements and ensure they are ATO-ready, as outlined by Angelina Lagana, Keith Swan, Denis Larkin and Peter Oliver.	Thomas and Naaz appeal dismissed again: NSW Court of Appeal rules in favour of Commissioner 15 March 2023 The NSW Court of Appeal’s decision does not provide the further clarity that was hoped for, largely due to the lack of evidence adduced in the first instance decision, with analysis provided by Keith Swan and Terrence Wong.
Part IVA decision on stapled structure arrangement 5 October 2022 The Federal Court has handed down the most noteworthy decision on Part IVA for a number of years and it raises a number of interesting technical, evidential and strategic issues along with potentially broader implications.	Webinar recording: Australian tax developments—Are you ready? 21 September 2022 This KPMG United States (US) International Corridors webinar, held on Thursday 15 September, covers topical tax matters in the Australian tax landscape.	Upcoming webinar: Australian tax developments—Are you ready? 12 September 2022 This KPMG United States (US) International Corridors webinar, to be held on Thursday 15 September, will cover topical tax matters in the Australian tax landscape.
NSW Court of Appeal upholds established construction of payroll tax employment agency provisions 8 July 2022 Maintaining the status quo of the “in and for” test in applying the employment agency provisions will be welcomed by taxpayers, write Keith Swan.	Thomas and Naaz appeal dismissed: NSW Chief Commissioner succeeds in payroll tax case 8 July 2022 This decision is significant for taxpayers operating common medical practice structures and similar administration services businesses, as detailed by Keith Swan.	ATO scrutiny over taxpayer legal professional privilege claims to continue 28 March 2022 This case confirms individual facts and circumstances of each lawyer-client engagement are critical, but the legal professional privilege assessment process is the same regardless of the firm or business structure that provides the legal services, as outlined by Angelina Lagana, Keith Swan and Alex Patrick.
Significant upcoming appeal in relation to payroll tax contractor provisions case 7 March 2022 KPMG has been advised that the taxpayer in Thomas and Naaz Pty Ltd v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2021] NSWCATAD 259 has appealed the decision.	ATO’s appeal of Guardian AIT decision may further delay clarity on section 100A 11 February 2022 In part two of this article series, Keith Swan, Brent Murphy and Alice Chow look at the Court’s consideration of the “ordinary family or commercial dealing” exception and outline some practical implications for private family groups.	Application of section 100A: ATO appeals Federal Court decision - Part 1 10 February 2022 As outlined by Keith Swan, Brent Murphy and Alice Chow, taxpayers and their advisors will be monitoring the appeal closely in light of the increasing uncertainty in the application of section 100A.

Keith Swan |