Naomi Schell

• Lead technical input into all new measures work impacting the Excise product. This currently includes leading technical input into the Excise and Excise Equivalent Goods Streamlining Project, including input into policy development, law design, implementation and capability support.
• Provide technical support for the most complex compliance case work and compliance operations, dispute resolution, objections, and litigation (including strategic litigation). This has recently included supporting an application for leave to appeal an unfavourable Federal Court decision to the High Court, and managing the significant and ongoing impacts of that leave application being refused. Currently supporting a significant litigation matter involving approx. $300m revenue.
• Lead technical alcohol-specific and cross-commodity capability development and support for the Excise Centre. This includes supporting internal and external capability through formal training and case and issue-specific support.
• Lead a team of Law Interpretation Officers Law Interpretation managers to provide advice and guidance to internal stakeholders, clients and intermediaries
• As a member of the Excise Centre Executive Group:

- Actively participate in decision-making forums in relation to

complex and high-impact decisions.

- Proactively support priority initiatives for the Branch and

manage and allocate resources accordingly.

- Develop and maintain effective working relationships within the Branch and with internal and external stakeholders - representing the ATO at high-level forums (e.g technical representative of the Alcohol Stakeholder Group, and the Whole of Government Alcohol Maturation Working Group)

• Responsible for leading a team of EL1 Risk Treatment Leads and having overarching responsibility for managing the alcohol risk - including Wine Equalisation Tax, Alcohol Excise, Excise Equivalent Goods, and Illicit Alcohol
• Leading alcohol risk assessments, treatment plans, alcohol tax gap, data and risk models, intelligence function, reporting and governance under MOUs and subsidiary arragnements, complicance planning, case selection, case delivery, case results analysis, tip-offs, strategic compliance case support, secretariat for a range of ATO and intergovernmental forums
• Illicit Alcohol Project selThe Illicit Alcohol Improvement Project was established by the Excise Centre, Private Wealth in late 2019, after compliance activity highlighted opportunities for the ATO to make improvements to the identification, prevention and correction of illicit alcohol activities
• The Project was established as a priority initiative for the Excise Centre in 2019-20 and continues to be a priority for the 2020-21 year.
• I have been responsible for leading the Illicit Alcohol Improvement Project and associated operational work since early February 2020
• Since then, I have managed a ‘virtual team’ to successfully implement all major Project deliverables, including but not limited to the following:
• Intelligence and insights improvements – I have overseen and co-ordinated the completion of numerous intelligence products, and the identification and profiling of over 100 of the highest risk alcohol clients
• This work has provided the ATO with a significantly greater understanding of the illicit alcohol environment
• It has enabled the determination of approximate revenue forgone from illicit alcohol activity, identification of specific groups responsible, and the activities and arrangements they engage in.
• These intelligence products have been used variously to form the basis of capability products, new web content and other communications, responding to external requests for information, informing and strategically targeting compliance activity, and as a very important input into the tax gap analysis for alcohol (i.e
• Enabling identification of a significant proportion of alcohol tax gap attributable to illicit activity).
• The results of this work form the basis of a joint ATO/Australian Border Force risk assessment and upcoming presentation on the illicit alcohol risk and potential treatments (some of them multi-agency) to the Black Economy Standing Taskforce.
• I have also identified opportunities for improvements to be made to the Excise Centre’s general intelligence gathering, storage, and dissemination processes and practices, and have implemented necessary changes.
• Capability improvement – I co-ordinated the publication and roll-out of the Excise Alcohol Legislative Toolkit and an accompanying instructional webinar
• A link to the Toolkit is now embedded in all compliance case context documents to assist auditors working on excise alcohol cases to identify issues and provide guidance on all available treatments under the law.
• Complex Case Management Framework – I was responsible for fully integrating into business as usual, a Framework for the strategic management of complex illicit alcohol cases and issues
• Three complex cases are currently under active management via the Framework, which involves a formal escalation process, where cases and issues are managed under the strategic direction of a panel of relevant EL2 and SES stakeholders.
• Communications strategy - I have overseen co-ordinated the illicit alcohol communication strategy
• New web content has been published, and other key communications (including a taxpayer alert and target retailer campaign) are positioned for release in the near-future (subject to COVID-19 restrictions).

• New measures - Alcohol tax reform and policy project leadership
• I successfully led the ATO’s input into the end-to-end development, design, and implementation of major wine equalisation tax (WET) reforms, and the introduction of the alcohol manufacturer excise refund scheme.
• During the policy development stage of the WET reform measures, I provided significant input on behalf of the ATO
• I also provided advice to Treasury on an almost daily basis during the law design process.
• The WET reforms were passed into law in August 2017, and I liaised extensively with many internal and external stakeholders in leading their implementation
• Amongst other things, I effectively managed: development and publication of three public rulings and all written WET guidance on ato.gov.au re-design of several approved forms; and internal and external capability requirements.
• In late 2017, at the request of the peak wine industry association, I presented information sessions in winemaking regions around Australia about the WET reforms
• I delivered 14 sessions to over 1200 tax professionals and members of the wine industry
• I also presented a follow-up live webinar to 100 participants
• The webinar was recorded and has been viewed over 1800 times
• Attendees provided very positive feedback to the ATO about these sessions, and how well they assisted clients with understanding their new compliance obligations.
• Due to the success of these sessions in Australia, the peak wine industry association in New Zealand, requested I travel to New Zealand to present similar information sessions to tax professionals and wine producers claiming WET rebates under the International Wine Rebate Scheme (IWRS).
• In 2018, as part of the WET Working Group, I was awarded an ATO Above and Beyond Award for ‘Living the Cultural Traits’.
• Technical leadership role
• In addition to my work on new measures and policy advocacy, in my substantive role, I provide technical advice to clients, and technical and strategic leadership to staff across several different capabilities on a daily basis
• I primarily provide advice about the operation WET, alcohol excise, and excise equivalent goods laws, and the administrative framework within which they sit
• This includes: advising compliance staff in relation to complex structuring arrangements assisting risk staff with risk identification and analysis providing a broad range of advice to the Executive, Directors, and Client Services, Advice, and Review and Dispute Resolution staff advising the Relationship Management Team and routinely attending meetings with clients, tax professionals, and industry associations identifying, creating, and updating precedential ATO views; and providing technical clearance for skilling and web content and communications initiatives.
• I have worked closely with the ATO’s Tax Counsel Network (TCN) on numerous public advice and guidance products
• I have also written and managed the process around legislative instruments
• I have been involved with Question Time Briefings and Senate Estimates
• I have also drafted a submission to the Senate Red Tape Committee, and an ATO response to a coronial inquiry into deaths resulting from illegally manufactured alcohol.
• I am the ATO’s contact officer under the ATO’s Arrangement with New Zealand Inland Revenue (NZIR) in relation to the administration of the IWRS
• I facilitate regular meetings between the agencies as required under the Arrangement and provide advice to NZIR on a regular basis.
• I also regularly provide advice to the Department of Home Affairs about the classification of imported alcoholic products.
• I have worked with Criminal Investigations staff, and on several occasions, I have provided written advice and witness statements about the operation of various aspects of the alcohol tax system for use in criminal proceedings
• I have also worked with Tax Counsel and external counsel on litigation matters.
• I have developed and delivered numerous training packages at the intermediate and advanced level both within the ATO and externally
• Additionally, I have represented Excise Product Leadership and the ATO at various forums including the Alcohol Stakeholder Group, the ATO Re-invention Showcase for Small Business, and the Winemaker’s Federation of Australia Wine Industry Technical Advisory Committee.
• Most recently, at the request of state and national wine industry associations, I successfully ran twelve 3-hour ‘WET Back to Basics’ workshops for wine industry representatives and tax professionals in winemaking regions around Australia
• In early 2019, I recorded a publicly available webinar of the presentation given as part of these workshops.
• In 2018 I was a finalist in the individual category for an ATO Above and Beyond Award for ‘Client Service’.