About the Wealth Program
Under the Tax Avoidance Taskforce Wealth Program, our tax specialists investigate a small number of large private groups and wealthy individuals who deliberately and persistently avoid paying the right amount of tax. It includes groups that structure their affairs to conceal their activities, assets, and income, to gain an unlawful tax advantage.
Such behaviours are detrimental to the Australian community and undermine the community's confidence in the tax system. We hold these groups and individuals to account, taking carefully considered firm actions that are proportionate to the concerning behaviours, including using the full force of the law for the worst offenders.
If you become the subject of a Wealth Program audit or review, it's likely because we've observed concerning behaviours that need further scrutiny. This usually occurs where you haven’t been transparent in previous engagements, or where our data and intelligence indicate you're participating in arrangements to obtain unlawful tax benefits.
Due to our obligations of confidentiality under the law, we don't comment on the tax affairs of individuals or entities subject to our investigations. However, our work in this area often generates community and media interest, as Australians expect that everyone should pay the right amount of tax.
Our focus
The areas that we are focussed on include:
- complex and opaque business structures aimed at disguising beneficial ownership to avoid Australian tax obligations – using trusts, offshore structures, nominees, ‘straw’ directors or bucket companies
- concealment of the source of funds used to acquire Australian assets of significant value – layering and moving the money into Australia through suspicious situations that conceal their true source
- inappropriate reduction of business profits by
- disguising expenses intended for personal benefit as business expenses
- mischaracterising capital expenses as revenue expenses
- claiming deductions for contrived ‘bad debts’
- claiming fictitious or inflated related party expenses for amounts not actually paid (these expenses are justified by false, backdated or altered financial records)
- inappropriate use of not-for-profit entities to shelter income by way of distributions and donations from members and businesses – the funds are then used for non-charitable purposes and for personal benefit of individuals
- significant interest deductions claimed that aren't related to assessable income or where financing arrangements are poorly documented – this then enables future avoidance of tax consequences
- artificially generated revenue and capital losses, with losses used in situations where they aren't available due to ownership changes or participation in schemes
- distributing profits through a successive chain of related entities – these entities then don't register, lodge or report the income, or they report the income but dodge payment of tax by asset disposal, liquidation or related party arrangements.
Our approach
We take a ‘whole-of-group’ treatment approach to address tax avoidance across all entities under the effective control of individuals and their associates. We work with domestic and international partner agencies and source data from third parties to uncover the full extent of tax avoidance activities aimed at concealing income and assets and exploiting the law.
When we scrutinise your tax affairs, we prefer that you provide your information cooperatively. This will help you minimise costs and disruption to your business. If you're unwilling to do so, we'll use our formal powers to obtain information. This includes using our access powers to access to your premises and documents. In exceptional situations we may not give you prior notice.
We'll be transparent with you about what we're concerned about. We'll also give you every opportunity to be transparent with us, so we can reach a shared understanding of contentious issues. Our responses will be proportionate to your level of cooperation. We won't tolerate you deliberately misleading or obstructing us.
We'll issue assessments as needed and apply penalties that reflect the seriousness of your behaviours. We'll continue to monitor your ongoing compliance with your tax and super obligations and intervene if you don't comply.
The evidence we obtain in our audits and reviews can lead to criminal investigations and subsequent referrals for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecution to prosecute you before the courts.
If we find evidence that your tax adviser has been involved in structuring your tax affairs to evade tax, we'll refer them to the relevant regulatory body.