Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Taxing Trends and Patterns


"[Mr Cranston] was trying to make sure the tax office didn't get this type of publicity, where it was seen to have misused its powers."


Barrister David Staehli, SC, revealed

A deputy commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office allegedly shared confidential information with his son in circumstances where he had a clear conflict of interest, a Sydney jury has heard. Michael Bede Cranston, 59, is on trial in the NSW District Court after pleading not guilty to using information he obtained as a deputy commissioner, and exercising influence in the capacity of his role, with the intention of dishonestly obtaining a benefit for his son.

Al Capone famously boasted of his criminal empire: “Some call it bootlegging. Some call it racketeering. I call it a business.” Treasury Agent Frank Wilson and Prosecutor George Johnson put Capone behind bars not by disputing his characterization and pursuing murder or assault or RICO charges, but by accepting it and enforcing its tax implications. Irrespective of their legality, Capone’s businesses were profitable, and Capone had not reported their profits for tax purposes. A simple application of bedrock tax law achieved what other legal routes failed to achieve and sent Capone to Alcatraz. The trick was to see the tax argument.
Abe Saffron | The Independent

 AFP complained NSW cop potentially dealing drugs at Canberra nightclub

The NSW Police officer has since resigned after being accused by the police watchdog of giving false evidence in an ACT court.
‘Hate the sin, find the sinner’ 
This week the Tax Justice Network published a report – Beneficial ownership verification: ensuring the truthfulness and accuracy of registered ownership information – that tackles  financial crime at its root: anonymity manufactured via layers of opaque legal vehicles, such as companies and trusts. While many countries, especially in the European Union, have made great advances in requiring companies and other legal vehicles to register their ‘beneficial owners’ (the individuals who ultimately control and benefit from legal vehicles), verification of this information continues to be a great challenge. What’s the point of requiring a company to identify and declare its beneficial owners if it cannot be prevented from lying to our faces? 
A public servant suspected of leaking embarrassing documents about Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s intervention in a foreign au pair visa case says a police raid over the incident was politically biased and designed to deter future whistleblowers.
The Department of Home Affairs headquarters in Canberra was dramatically raided on October 11 as part of an investigation into leaks against Mr Dutton after he stepped in to stop two European au pairs from being deported.
AFP Deputy Commissioner Neil Gaughan told a Senate inquiry last year that he alerted Mr Dutton’s chief of staff Craig Maclachlan to the raid ahead of time.
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