SFCT to investigate more offshore tax evasion
The Serious Financial Crime Taskforce (SFCT) is investigating employees, taxpayers and lawyers as part of an enquiry into whether more than 340 Australians with links to a Swiss bank are failing to comply with taxation laws, or are involved in criminal activity.
The minister for revenue and financial services, Kelly O’Dwyer, said an international collaboration by the SFCT had led to search warrants and arrests by authorities across Germany, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom last week. O’Dwyer said it indicated that Australians identified held unnamed numbered accounts with a Swiss bank.
“The fact that these accounts are unnamed means that by their very nature they are likely to have been established to hide the identity of the owner,” O’Dwyer said.
“Unfortunately, there are still those who believe they can dodge from their tax obligations and avoid detection by government agencies.”
Of the 346 identified citizens, 23 had come forward under the Australian Taxation Office’s Project DO IT - a one-off opportunity for Australians to disclose their unreported offshore financial activities – or had been subjected to ATO compliance action in the past.
O’Dwyer said she was confident many had in fact complied with tax obligations, but the nature of an unnamed offshore account still warranted investigation.
“As revenue authorities continue to gather and share intelligence in the coming weeks, they expect to move quickly to pinpoint those people who’ve deliberately promoted or willingly participated in these schemes,” she said.
“Taskforce agencies are working through their intelligence to determine the taxpayers in this group who have done the right thing, and those who have been concealing the true nature of their tax affairs.”
O’Dwyer said those who had been found to have undisclosed offshore tax arrangements would face significant financial penalties and possible jail time.
AUTHOR
Hope William-Smith
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