Face of Nation : Australians dobbed on suspected tax dodgers 60,000 times this financial year, a new record ahead of the launch of an integrity unit to target cheaters.
“Honest businesses and consumers have had enough — they’ve decided to take action,” said Australian Taxation Office assistant commissioner Peter Holt.
Public reports of suspected tax avoidance rose 42 per cent between July 2018 and May 2019 and Australia is on track for 70,000 tip-offs to happen during the 2019 financial year.
The news comes after two years of action on black economy activities and ahead of a new national tax integrity centre, including a one-stop shop tip-off line, launching on July 1.
The Tax Office says it is become easier to map data over the past few years and that taxpayers can now report suspicious activity even if they don’t know exact addresses or company information.
“People ring in and say, ‘a person living near me has some unexplained wealth’. Or, ‘It appears that the person living next to me is running a business out of their home’,” Mr Holt said.
One third of the reports this past year have been from Australians suggesting someone they know is under-reporting their income.
More than one-in-four cases related to the cash economy, while eight per cent of reports came from workers saying they were chasing unpaid superannuation from an employer.
While a tip-off won’t lead to the an investigation by itself, it can be used with other information already on file to trigger an audit.
It could be the missing piece of the puzzle,” Mr Holt said.
An estimated $50 billion is lost in Australia each year through hiding of taxable income. The Tax Office says most Australian consumers and businesses do the right thing, though it is increasingly easy to identify those behaving badly.
Public tip-offs have previously contributed to jail terms for tax avoiders. In March, an international student from Melbourne was jailed for two years and three months for involvement in a tax fraud scheme after a phone call led to a joint investigation including the Tax Office, Border Force and the Australian Federal Police.
Those wanting to report suspicious activity can call 1800 060 062 or report it online through ATO channels.
Due to privacy laws, tipsters will not be informed about what happens once they’ve made their phone call.
Unpaid superannuation payments will be increasingly easy to track thanks to digital payroll systems providing up-to-date reporting for companies of all sizes from July 1.
Mr Holt said businesses that are aware they might be behind on superannuation or tax payments should make direct contact. The Tax Office is primarily concerned with those intentionally doing the wrong thing, he said.
“We don’t want people to be fearful.”
