“Tax cheats are trying to get an unfair advantage, adding to the burden on the majority of people who do the right thing and meet their tax obligations,” said Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo.

“Our tax and superannuation systems underpin the standard of living we enjoy in Australia and the people who attempt to defraud that system are ultimately stealing from the rest of us.”

Thirty-nine people were prosecuted for tax-related offences last financial year. Thirty-seven custodial sentences were handed down by the courts, ranging from fully suspended to nine years imprisonment. These included eight individuals who received custodial sentences under Project Wickenby.

Offences included attempting to hide income and assets overseas and individuals using stolen identities to submit false business activity statements.

There were also 1,447 individuals and 514 companies successfully prosecuted for taxation offences, such as failing to lodge returns and making false and misleading statements on tax returns and activity statements. Court-imposed sanctions included reparation orders, fines and other penalties.

“Our increasingly sophisticated information matching capabilities enable us to help protect honest taxpayers and protect the overall integrity of the tax and superannuation system,” said Mr D’Ascenzo.

“We compare tax records with more than 600 million transactions reported to us each year from financial institutions and other organisations, both in Australia and overseas, to gain a very detailed picture of people’s financial dealings.

“The message is clear. If you attempt to cheat the honest taxpayer community you will be found out and brought to justice.”

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“Those who are caught face extremely serious penalties including criminal conviction, significant fines and imprisonment,” Ms Granger said.

“Even if penalties do not include jail time a criminal conviction will mean a permanent criminal record. As well as disqualifying you from many kinds of employment this can impact on other areas of your life including restricting travel to some countries.

“For the quarter 1 July to 30 September 356 people and 122 companies were prosecuted and convicted of taxation and superannuation offences. During this period twelve people received custodial sentences, ranging from two months to five years.

“Refund fraud continues to be a focus for us. We utilise leading technology, sophisticated national and international networks and community intelligence to catch those who are doing the wrong thing.

“It is not a matter of if, but when we find you. Ask yourself: is doing the wrong thing really worth the risk?”

Recently a Sydney man with a background in commerce was sentenced to five years jail for deliberately lodging 41 false income tax returns totalling $180,000.

However it doesn’t have to be large scale to attract our attention.

Earlier this year, a Sydney fencing contractor who made false statements in his business activity statements was fined $18,000 and ordered to pay an additional $17,319 to the Commissioner.

“Providing false or misleading information to the ATO is a criminal offence. If you do the crime, you will face the consequences; and they can be significant,” Ms Granger said.

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