The taskforce continued to have a focus on public groups, private groups and multinationals operating in Australia. This includes a focus on:
- advisers and intermediaries engaged in influencing and promoting tax avoidance schemes and strategies
- individuals and intermediaries involved in high-risk trust arrangements used to inappropriately obtain a tax advantage
- taxpayers with deliberate structural concealment.
The success of the taskforce is reflected in the government’s confidence in the ATO to continue to curb and prevent future tax avoidance arrangements by announcing an extension to 2025 in the March 2024 budget with additional funding of $653 million over the 2–year period.
The taskforce has helped the ATO raise over $4.7 billion in liabilities and collect $2.6 billion in cash in the 2021–22 financial year. The taskforce continues to surpass its commitment to government each year.
Since 1 July 2016, the ATO has:
- raised $27.6 billion in liabilities against public groups, multinationals, wealthy individuals and associated private groups (including trusts and promoters)
- collected over $15.3 billion in cash.
As we look to what was delivered in 2021–22 there are a number of achievements that will have systemic impacts, including significant court wins regarding the use of Legal Professional Privilege (LPP) as well as the publication of the LPP Protocol.
Highlights for 2021–22
Highlights of the Tax Avoidance Taskforce contribution for 2021–22 include:
- Our compliance activities generated around $3.5 billion in tax liabilities and around $1.9 billion in net cash collections from large public groups and multinational corporations, wealthy individuals and private groups.
- Eighty Top 100 taxpayers were subject to a review or audit in the 2021–22 year, with liabilities of $705.6 million raised as a result.
- To date we have assured over $158 billion of income tax under the Top 100 and Top 1,000 justified trust programs. 85% of the Top 100 taxpayers that we have assured have obtained a high or medium overall assurance rating.
- ResMed announced they settled their USD$381.7 million tax dispute with the ATO and locked in future tax certainty.
- Our intensive audit of an abusive family trust arrangement promoted and facilitated by Jennifer Nairne, then senior partner of a professional firm, which was escalated to a cross-agency criminal investigation, has concluded with a guilty plea in April 2022 that carries a sentence of up to 10 years imprisonment.
- As of June 2022, Next Actions work from the Top 1,000 program has raised total liabilities of nearly $1.3 billion, collections of $499.8 million, with tax losses reduced by more than $1.2 billion since July 2018.
- In 2021–22 our Trusts Program has undertaken a total of 348 cases with respect to trust risks. Through these engagements we have raised liabilities of $164.5 million and collected $164.5 million in cash.
- We released the first Interim Next 5,000 Findings Report in December 2021, with key statistics and observations from over 250 streamlined reviews.
- The taskforce assisted Australia to implement all BEPS Action Items the Australian Government agreed to adopt.
- The taskforce provides comprehensive support in criminal and civil litigations, to ensure successful litigation outcomes. McDonald’s Australia Ltd was convicted and fined for failing to provide documents to the ATO.
- We have seen an important test of new legislation which started this year, with the first Diverted Profits Tax (DPT) case progressing in the courts.
- There were 2 favourable court decisions concerning LPP claims:
- the taxpayer was required to comply with a formal notice requesting particulars in relation to privilege claims
- only legal advice provided by a lawyer is privilege.
- We released the final LPP protocol in June 2022 to assist taxpayers and advisers when making LPP claims in response to formal requests for information.
- ATO systems now have more automation in exchanging information with overseas tax jurisdictions. Other enhanced technology and data capabilities have also been delivered for the taskforce.