When fraud occurs
Fraud occurs when a person uses dishonest or deceitful means to gain a financial advantage.
This can come at the expense of unsuspecting victims, and activities can include intentional concealment, omission or perversion of the truth.
In rare cases, tax agents commit fraud and it may involve their clients.
What you can do
If you suspect wrongdoing or believe you may be a victim of tax fraud, you should take the following steps to help protect against further harm:
- Contact the ATO Client Identity Support Centre on 1800 467 033.
- Contact your financial institutions – alert your bank credit card providers, or any relevant financial institutions.
- Change your sign in method for affected accounts or records – this can include using a Digital ID (such as myGovID), changing to multifactor authentication or updating passwords. If security safeguards are applied to your ATO account or record, a Strong online access strength may allow you to continue accessing certain information in ATO online services through myGov.
- Reissue identity documents – contact the relevant authorities to request reissue of compromised identity documents.
- Regularly check your super accounts for any unusual transactions – contact your super fund if something doesn’t look right.
- Report the incident to your local law enforcement authorities.
- Document everything – keep records of all communications, transactions and any evidence related to the fraud for future reference.
If you suspect the wrongdoing involves a tax practitioner, you can also lodge a complaint with the Tax Practitioners BoardExternal Link. We may request you to provide information such as the tax agent’s contact details, documentation provided to the tax agent, and evidence of payments made.
If you suspect someone may be involved in fraudulent activity but you are not the victim of the fraud, you can report the activity by either:
- calling the Tax Integrity Centre hotline on 1800 060 062
- completing the online tip-off form. The form is also available in the contact us section of the ATO app.
What help we can provide
We are serious about fraud and supporting taxpayers who fall victim to it. We can help if fraudulent action has occurred on your behalf. This could be activity on your account without your knowledge or authority by a third party.
During the process of correcting your tax accounts, we may be able to help you in the following ways:
- Extend time to lodge a replacement return
- Remit general interest charge
- Arrange to pay by instalments
- Provide help during audits or investigations
Extend time to lodge a replacement return
We may grant you a time extension if you are lodging a replacement return or activity.
This may be:
- 30 days from the date we notify you that we require a replacement tax return or activity statement
- extended based on your circumstances.
Remit general interest charge
If it is fair and reasonable, we can remit (reduce or cancel) interest charged on unpaid tax debts or shortfall amounts that occur because of fraud.
Arrange to pay by instalments
If an outstanding debt causes financial difficulties, we may allow you to pay instalments over an agreed time period.
Provide help during audits or investigations
We will support you or your trusted tax agent during the audit process to correct your tax accounts after fraud has occurred.
When we are unable to help
We are generally unable to intervene in civil matters where:
- we determine a lodgment or assessment is valid and reflects your current tax position
- any refund amount has already issued to the destination instructed by you or your authorised representative (such as your tax agent).
We are unable to help where there is insufficient evidence of fraud, or to trace misdirected or misappropriated funds. The parties involved need to resolve these matters. In these circumstances, you can consider seeking independent advice through the courts or by contacting consumer affairs bodies.