Tax avoidance schemes becoming more complex
In the lead-up to tax time, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is warning taxpayers about new and complex tax avoidance schemes offering people financial security.
The boutique tax avoidance and evasion schemes are difficult to identify and are often marketed via social media or glossy promotion brochures with so-called stamped approval from experts, the ATO stated.
Recently, some schemes have offered people opportunities of wealth creation, in some instances exploiting a social or environmental conscience.
According to the ATO, one case involved a promoter that offered an arrangement for people to purchase "emission" units generated through offshore carbon reduction activities. The offshore arrangements saw people claiming more money than they paid.
"If you are getting back more money than you put in with no risk, and if no real goods or services are being provided, it is likely to be a tax avoidance scheme and could lead to significant tax penalties," Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan said.
In October 2012, the ATO received an additional $37 million in government funding to investigate promoters of tax avoidance and evasion schemes.
Over the 2011-12 financial year, it successfully prosecuted 2000 individuals and companies for fraud, tax and superannuation offences.
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