ATO announces tax amnesty for people with offshore income

Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo has offered taxpayers who earn income offshore and try and hide it from the tax man a new deal – tell us by 30 June, 2010, or we’re coming after you.

The special tax amnesty, announced yesterday, means anyone who has not declared offshore income can do so without the risk of harsh penalties or criminal prosecution.

If you’ve earned over $20,000 from offshore sources, you’ll have to pay shortfall penalties of 10%. If you’ve earned under $20,000, you will not have to pay a penalty.

“This new offer provides a good opportunity for people who want to do the right thing to get their tax affairs in order,” D’Ascenzo said in a statement.

“Tax advisers have told us many of their clients with undisclosed foreign income want to come forward to set things right, but are concerned about the consequences of doing so – particularly the potential for criminal investigation.”

“People can now approach us anonymously for an indication of whether we would initiate an investigation to determine whether there is a potential breach of the criminal law. In making this decision, we will often seek advice from an appropriately qualified panel which will include external members.”

The latest offer follows a similar deal offered by the ATO in 2007. That amnesty resulted in 3,000 disclosures being made, covering over $306 million in omitted income and raising nearly $65 million in penalties.

Yasser El-Ansary, tax counsel at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, says the ATO’s amnesty comes after similar moves by tax authorities in the United States and Britain, who are also hunting for offshore income.

“As we all know, revenues are under pressure in all OECD countries that spent up big during the global financial crisis,” El-Ansary says.

“This is new territory for the ATO in terms of having all these powers. Every week or two it seems Australia is signing up a new deal with another country. The net is closing in on taxpayers who have in the past been able to get away with keeping money in offshore accounts and hiding it from the ATO.”

El-Ansary says the Institute is advising its members to sit down with clients and run through the details of the amnesty and encourage them to reveal any offshore tax income while they’ve still got the opportunity.

“Often it’s the case that an adviser won’t know about a client’s offshore affairs, but they should still sit down with their client and have that discussion. Where a client does have offshore income, they need to have some fairly tough discussions.”

“It’s a great chance to lay your affairs before the Tax Office before they come knocking. Because the chances are they will come knocking. “

D’Ascenzo has emphasised that the amnesty offer will not be valid if the ATO starts an audit after 30 June next year.
“There’s a much higher price to be paid later if we discover undeclared income through an audit process. Penalties can be as high as 90%, and we will seek prosecution in serious cases.”

“There is nothing wrong with holding an offshore account or investing overseas as long as you pay any Australian tax due, however we will continue to focus on the misuse of offshore financial arrangements.”