Channel 9 News in Australia reported on October 14th that the Australian Tax Office (ATO) has received up to 250,000 reports over the past five years, involving unpaid taxes amounting to as much as 16 billion Australian dollars.
The tax office stated that the 250,000 reports submitted by the public since July 2019 (nearly 1,000 per week) indicate that people are increasingly dissatisfied with individuals and businesses that "steal the funds needed for basic community services that everyone relies on."
"We receive an average of over 3,500 reports per month from those who know or suspect others of tax evasion or involvement in underground economic activities," said Tony Golding, Assistant Commissioner of the Tax Office.
"This shows that all sectors of society, including honest businesses, have had enough of those who deceive the system and gain an unfair advantage."
The tax office stated that the amount of tax evasion each year is believed to be as high as 16 billion Australian dollars, and 90% of the reports lead to further investigation.
"The number of reports we receive tells us that Australians are fed up with this, and not fulfilling tax obligations is unacceptable," Golding said. "The reports we receive come from other businesses, customers, community members, employees, and even the family and friends of tax evaders."
Although the increase in electronic payments and the decrease in cash transactions make it more difficult for unlawful businesses to deceive the tax office, emerging technologies have also opened up new avenues for tax evasion."We are cracking down on businesses suspected of using illegal sales suppression tools, also known as ESS tools, which can permanently delete transactions, reorder transactions, reduce sales values, fabricate transactions, and create false records," said Golding.
"For example, if a customer orders a steak for 60 AUD and a bottle of wine for 100 AUD, the ESS tool would record it in the system as a bowl of fries for 10 AUD and a bottle of soft drink for 4 AUD."
In the fiscal year of 2023-24, the industries with the most reports were construction, catering, and hairdressing and beauty services, with New South Wales being the region with the most reports, accounting for nearly one-third of the 47,000 reports from the previous fiscal year.