So far this tax time the ATO has already stopped 58,000 income tax returns containing suspected over claimed or fraudulent refunds.
“Each year our ability to match data gets better, making it more likely people will be identified if they leave anything out or incorrectly report items on their tax return,” said Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo.
“We have received more than 600 million transactions from organisations this tax time to check against tax returns.
“This information comes from a range of businesses and agencies, including employers, financial institutions, share registries, and government agencies like Centrelink, who are required to report data to the ATO regularly.”
The ATO cross-checks this information after taxpayers have lodged their tax returns to help stop fraudulent claims and detect any income that has not been included.
“Last year, we wrote to 540,000 taxpayers about discrepancies in the information they reported on their tax returns. This led to 90 per cent of these returns being amended and we raised $915 million in revenue as a result,” said Mr D’Ascenzo.
If you think you have made an error or left something out, you can complete a voluntary disclosure statement that will allow you to request an amendment of your tax return.
“We are very reasonable with people who have made an honest mistake – we appreciate that can happen to anyone,” Mr D’Ascenzo said.
“However, people who deliberately attempt to defraud the tax system can face heavy fines and risk having a criminal conviction recorded.”
