Guest Speakers

Mr Michael D'Ascenzo

Michael D’Ascenzo took up his role as Commissioner of Taxation on 1 January 2006.

When Michael D’Ascenzo joined the Tax Office in 1977, he was captured by the exciting work associated with challenging the tax avoidance schemes of the late 1970s and early 1980s, particularly trust stripping and ‘bottom of the harbour’ schemes.

In 1985 he was asked to head up their recoupment tax area and in 1986 was put in charge of international operations, becoming involved in the world’s first advanced pricing agreement. He then introduced the large case program, auditing Australia’s top 100 companies.

Michael led the improvements to the self-assessment system introduced in 1992, which were described by Parliament as making the tax system fairer and more certain. By 1993 Michael had national responsibility for our audit group (with more than 5,000 staff).

From 1994, as Deputy Chief Tax Counsel and then Chief Tax Counsel, Michael worked to raise the standard of our tax technical decision making and lists this work as one of his career highlights. In 1997, Michael worked on assignment with the International Monetary Fund, advising the Sultanate of Oman on its tax system and administration.

Prior to his appointment as Commissioner, Michael held the position of Second Commissioner (Law) and Chief Tax Counsel having an ongoing overall focus on the interpretation of tax law and the implementation of new tax laws, as well as corporate planning, finance and governance. He chaired a number of internal committees and was involved in numerous other high level Tax Office and external forums, including the National Tax Liaison Group and the Tax Office/Treasury Tax Policy Coordination Committee. He also had responsibility for the Australian Valuation Office.

Michael is also involved in the work of the Study Group on Asian Tax Administration and Research (SGATAR) and held the role of Secretary General of SGATAR for 2005.

Michael has Bachelors of both Economics and Law from the Australian National University and is admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of the ACT. Michael is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School Program for Management Development.

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