Don’t pretend to play hard ball with the tax office, you’ll lose. That’s what one Victorian based business found recently when it was fined $1,100 plus costs when it refused to hand over documents and other information in relation to its employer obligations.
The Assistant Commissioner for Employer Obligations, John Leonard said ‘If we need to access information that taxpayers hold, we prefer to consult with them or their tax agent and get the information co-operatively. However in some situations we need to use our formal powers.’
Mr Leonard said the judgement was no surprise and simply ratified the tax office’s right to obtain access to taxpayer information.
