The Australian Tax Office's (ATO’s) tax avoidance taskforce raised over AUD4.5 billion in tax liabilities and collected AUD2.5 billion in cash in the 2020/21 financial year.
Set up in July 2016, the taskforce says it has now raised AUD22.9 billion in liabilities against public groups, multinationals, wealthy individuals and associated private groups, including trusts and promoters, and collected over AUD15.9 billion from them. Its aim is now to focus on those who deliberately enter into 'abusive trust arrangements' and those who facilitate these arrangements.
During the past year, the ATO taskforce contacted 468 of its list of top 500 taxpayers and their associated entities. This alone raised AUD308 million in liabilities, says the ATO. A separate effort aimed at less wealthy taxpayers, the Next 5000 programme, engaged with 910 taxpayers and their associated entities, raising a further AUD223.6 million in liabilities.
The taskforce's international risk programme conducted 325 activities with privately owned wealth groups and non-resident taxpayers on international matters. This produced AUD266.4 million in extra liabilities and collected AUD232.8 million in cash.
'We continue to identify and address taxpayers deliberately entering abusive trust arrangements,' says the ATO. It cites the Greensill and Martin cases as examples where high-net-wealth individuals and groups have sought to exploit 'tax loopholes,' both turning on the issue of whether an expatriate beneficiary of a resident discretionary trust is liable to capital gains tax on the disposal of a trust asset that was not taxable Australian property.
The ATO says the taskforce will continue to focus on taxpayers who use complex trust structures and distribution flows designed to exploit the use of trusts and to hold their advisors to account for helping them. It cites the promoter penalty outcomes achieved in the Federal Court cases of Bogiatto and Rowntree. The Bogiatto penalty of AUD22.68 million was the highest-ever imposed under the promoter penalty legislation. The Rowntree case saw a lawyer, an accountant and a financial planner ordered to pay AUD9.4 million for promoting a tax avoidance scheme.
'During 2021–22, our focus will continue to be specialist large market advisors who promote and run tax avoidance schemes, and engage in uncooperative, misleading and obstructive behaviour,' says the ATO. 'This includes the misuse of legal professional privilege (LPP) during our reviews and audits. We are developing best practice guidance to establish best practice when making LPP claims in a tax dispute.'
News Source：【STEP 2021/09/06】
