ATO prosecutes 1,500 this financial year
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has prosecuted more than 1,500 people for tax and superannuation offences so far this financial year.
Of those, 30 were prosecuted and convicted for serious tax crime offences, including illegally seeking access to superannuation funds, obtaining financial advantage by deception and dealing with proceeds of crime.
These figures were released in the ATO's updated figures to March 31, which also showed most other offences included failing to lodge tax returns and preparing an income tax return when not being a registered tax agent.
One man from Queensland was convicted and sentenced to six months jail for unlawfully withdrawing more than $365,000 from a self-managed superannuation fund of which he was the trustee.
The ATO claims he used the funds for his personal use despite not meeting any legitimate condition of release for super funds.
"Prosecution is often a last resort, but it is there to protect the vast majority of taxpayers who do the right thing from being disadvantaged by those that don't," said Tax Commissioner Michael D'Ascenzo.
"We have a range of measures in place to ensure we detect and deal with those who evade their obligations," he added.
These measures include information-sharing and working with other government agencies and overseas counterparts.
The ATO said the total prosecution figure comprises 1,106 individuals and 400 companies.
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