Neil Chenoweth - 11 Dec 2014
Chris Jordan, Tax Commissioner. Photo: Robert Shakespeare
Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan has called for joint compliance action by tax treaty partners to target multinational companies in the wake of a new round of Luxembourg tax leaks.
The Australian Financial Review revealed on Wednesday that US media giant The Walt Disney Company had stripped profits from international operations including Australia through a $US4 billion restructure in Luxembourg. BEPS
Michael O’Neill |
Criminals breach Australian tax system
Tax office sleuths knew something was up late last year when a computer program churned out an unusually high number of GST credits for gold bars.
There are no GST credits claimable for high-quality investment grade gold bars. But there are for lower quality, second-grade gold.
All of a sudden, cheap gold was apparently flooding the market. The black market, as it turns out.
An organised crime syndicate was busted melting down high-quality gold bars, recycling and selling it back to itself under intricate company arrangements as second-grade gold — all to claim a 10 per cent GST credit.
Tax commissioner Chris Jordan confessed he was impressed with the ingenuity of the scam, which has been referred to the Australian Federal Police.
So far, it is believed, $184 million in GST fraud has been identified through the gold bar scandal. However, the con may be more widespread, with the AFP and ATO investigations continuing. Missing Trader Syndrome from Multiflex to Precious Metal