Recent ATO Prosecutions

Here are some results of recent ATO prosecutions involving tax crime. As I remind all my clients it doesn’t pay to try and rort the system, you will get caught. (Even an accountant thought he could get away with it!). The results:

– An unemployed man from Queensland was sentenced to 9 years and 11 months jail for his role in organising and promoting illegal investment opportunities that claimed to provide participants with legitimate tax deductions. Over $46 million would have been fraudulently claimed through the scheme if the ATO had not intervened. Two other men were also each sentenced to 6 years jail for their role in the illegal investment scheme.

– A finance broker and unregistered tax agent from NSW was sentenced to nine years jail, for 57 counts of income tax fraud totalling over $720,000. The court found he prepared 57 fraudulent tax returns in the names of 36 taxpayers. Some taxpayers were not even in the country for the period when the unregistered tax agent reported they earned Australian income.

– A Perth tradesman was convicted and fined $64,000 for making false and misleading statements in his Business Activity Statements and income tax returns. He was selected for an ATO audit due to consistently reporting income much lower than expected for someone working in the tiling trade. It was proved he hadn’t disclosed all his cash income to his tax agent and his cash book did not reconcile with the cash deposited into his bank and credit card accounts.

– A Townsville Accountant was sentenced to five years jail for GST fraud offences. He set up a property development company with the sole purpose of committing tax fraud. He lodged 32 false BAS statements with the intent to receive GST refunds of over $580,000 that he was not entitled to.

– A Cairns director of a property development company was sentenced to four years jail for GST fraud offences. She submitted false Business Activity Statements totalling over $375,000 of GST claims that she could not substantiate.

– A medical practitioner from Brisbane was convicted and fined $30,000 for eight offences for failing to lodge GST returns.

– A Melbourne restaurant owner was convicted and fined $11,000 for 11 offences for failing to lodge quarterly GST returns and fined $1,100 for two offences for failing to lodge income tax returns.

– A Sydney automotive repairer was convicted and fined $50,000 for six offences for failing to lodge GST returns.

– A Sydney dentist was convicted and fined $10,000 for three offences for failing to lodge income tax   returns.

– A retail night filler and IT professional from Sydney was convicted and fined $3,000 for two offences of making a false or misleading statement. The matter arose from information received from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). It was alleged that the defendant falsely claimed a dependent spouse tax offset in his 2008 and 2009 income tax returns. In sentencing the Magistrate stated, “These are serious offences. Lying to the Commissioner of the ATO is lying to Australia. No one likes paying tax but it is a necessary evil. It is the responsibility of all of us to pay tax. To claim money by lying, you are committing fraud on the people of Australia.”