Tax schemes more targeted, tailored

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has signalled it is close to initiating new legal action related to the promotion of illegal tax schemes.

The legal action has been signalled by the Tax Commissioner, Michael D’Ascenzo (pictured), who told a recent conference the ATO was getting close to commencing court proceedings during this financial year in relation to promoter penalty laws.

At the same time, the Tax Commissioner pointed to the evolution of tax schemes and the fact that the mass-marketed schemes of the past had given way to the development of more tailored and complex arrangements.

He said that since the introduction of promoter penalty laws in 2006, the ATO had detected a more conservative risk appetite within the bulk of the tax practitioner, financial adviser and finance sectors.

“The consequence of the changed environment has been that some entities have moved out of the market entirely, others changed their products and some have sought to go to ground,” D’Ascenzo said.

“The strong likelihood of being penalised for promoting tax exploitation schemes is deterring would-be promoters from engaging in dodgy behaviour, and encouraging others to curtail their activities.”

“However we are now seeing more tailored and complex arrangements on the landscape as opposed to the mass-marketed ones of yesteryear,” the Tax Commissioner said.