“Never turn your back on fear. It should always be in front of you, like a thing that might have to be killed.”
– Hunter S. Thompson“In The Beauty Created By Others” by Adam Zagajewski
Only in the beauty created
by others is there consolation,
in the music of others and in others’ poems.
Only others save us,
even though solitude tastes like
opium. The others are not hell,
if you see them early, with their
foreheads pure, cleansed by dreams.
That is why I wonder what
word should be used, “he” or “you.” Every “he”
is a betrayal of a certain “you” but
in return someone else’s poem
offers the fidelity of a sober dialogue.
(by Adam Zagajewski who died On 21 March 2021, Kraków, Poland (Translated)
It can take between 12 and 72 hours to develop symptoms after coming into contact with norovirus. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach pains, and nausea. It generally takes a few days to recover, and isn’t doesn’t usually require serious medical attention. But it might be worth contacting your GP if your symptoms haven’t resolved in three days. Make sure to drink as much water as you can so you don’t get dehydrated
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‘Smart bullies’ emerge in universities in new workplace trend
Bosses have been known to bully staff, but Australian universities are now reporting a rising trend in insubordination that involves staff bullying their superiors.
La Trobe University researcher Dr Troy Heffernan and Lynn Bosetti from the University of British Columbia in Canada have identified a rising trend in a new form of harassment which involves disrespect and insubordination.
The Federal Government has announced, as part of the Modernising Business Registers (MBR) program, that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) business registers are rolling under the Australian Tax Office (ATO)
ASIC business registers to roll under the ATO
High Court puts the taxman in his place after gold debacle
Three cheers for the High Court of Australia! Faced with one of the most outrageous appeal requests ever made by a government body, Australia’s highest court declared: “No, we will not hear that Australian Taxation Office appeal.”
How does the ATO investigate fraud and tax evasion?
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) takes fraud and tax evasion investigations seriously, and it may amend assessment periods to ensure that this conduct is identified and dealt with.
Explore your rights and the ATO’s responsibilities, as outlined in its Law Administration Practice Statement.
ATO fraud and tax evasion investigations
When the ATO investigates a tax discrepancy, it seeks to determine whether fraud or tax evasion have occurred, or whether you have made an honest mistake.
The ATO will look at whether you:
- Knowingly made false or deceptive statements.
- Withheld information to influence a tax outcome.
- Failed to keep adequate records to support a tax audit.
- Intentionally omitted income from a tax return with no credible explanation.
If the ATO suspects fraud or tax evasion, they may amend your assessment beyond the normal time limits.
Amended assessments
The ATO has a duty to make timely enquiries and assessments, and Australians are entitled to certainty and finality after a specified period regarding their tax liabilities.
However, where there has been fraud or tax evasion, a taxpayer may not be entitled to the benefits of these statutory time limits.
The ATO seeks to ensure that this amendment power is used appropriately, and it has the responsibility to inform taxpayers if they are being investigated for suspected fraud or tax evasion.
How are determinations of fraud or tax evasion made?
To form an opinion that there has been fraud or tax evasion, the ATO must exercise sound judgement and fairness. In its Practice Statement, the ATO states that this opinion should be formed only:
- By an executive or senior level officer.
- In accordance with ATO policies and practices.
- Bearing in mind the weight Parliament has placed on the benefits of certainty and fairness for taxpayers.
The ATO also seeks specialist assistance including:
- Consulting with the relevant technical advisory division.
- If the level of risk warrants it, seeking formal assistance from the Tax Counsel Network.
- Obtaining advice from the National Fraud or Evasion Advisory Panel.
- Reporting instances of suspected fraud to the Australian Institute of Criminology.
- If appropriate, referring cases to a specialist division that deals with cases involving “aggressive tax planning”, defined as “the use of transactions or arrangements that have little or no economic substance and are created predominantly to obtain a tax benefit not intended by the law.”
Tax discrepancies without fraud or tax evasion
If you underpay your tax due to an honest mistake, such as based on receiving an incorrect tax statement from your accountant, you will not have to pay a penalty or interest, but you will have to pay the correct amount of tax provided the time limits under the law allow it.
Former 60 Minutes reporter accused of blackmail manipulated, court told
A veteran journalist accused of being embroiled in a scheme to rip off $5m from an alleged $100m tax fraud syndicate was “manipulated” by members of a blackmail cartel, a court has been told.
Former 60 Minutes and Channel 7 journalist Stephen Barrett is standing trial in the NSW Supreme Court where he has denied helping to stand over three key players in the Plutus Payroll scandal.
The crown prosecution has accused Mr Barrett of being part of a joint criminal enterprise, along with Daniel Rostankovski and Daniel Hausman, which demanded $5m from the group.
He is alleged to have used his journalistic credentials to “menace” alleged Plutus kingpin Adam Cranston, lawyer Dev Menon and Jason Onley, and threatened to expose them.
Mr Barrett has pleaded not guilty to making an unwarranted demand with menaces with intention to obtain a gain by accusation or threat.
According to an admissions document signed by Mr Barrett and tendered to the Supreme Court, the AFP began tapping Mr Hausman and Mr Rostankovski’s phones in October 2016.
The court was told the demand for $5m was made by Mr Rostankovski at a meeting with alleged Plutus cartel members on February 1, 2017.
The meeting inside a law firm’s Sydney CBD office was bugged by Australian Federal Police.
Crown prosecutor Patricia McDonald had previously told the court Mr Barrett was present at the meeting, during which he stated he had been made aware of allegations against the Plutus group and was interested in running a story.
However, the court was told that he left the room before the demands for money were made by Mr Rostankovski.
A recording of the meeting was played to the court on Friday during which Mr Barrett could be heard saying that he had been a journalist for “39 years in this town”.
He further said he had been told allegations against the Plutus players was “a very serious story” and “I want to investigate”.
Defence barrister Clive Steirn told the jury on Friday that Mr Barrett was an unwitting cog in the blackmail syndicate’s attempt to extort money.
“When Mr Barrett came into the matter he was a professional journalist, and Mr Hausman intended to use and manipulate him for his own end,” Mr Steirn said.
“It’s important to note that the first blackmail charge was in the sum of $5m, and that was not shared with Mr Barrett but 50/50 between Mr Hausman and Mr Rostankovski.”
The court was told that Mr Hausman made a second demand of the Plutus group for a further $20m on February 15.
However, Mr Barrett was not involved in that alleged blackmail attempt and has not been charged.
According to documents tendered to the court, over a two-week period in 2017, $4.82m was paid into a trust fund of Mr Hausman’s lawyer.
After the second blackmail attempt was made, over a three-month period from February to May, another $19.42m was paid into the same trust account
The court has heard the Plutus Payroll group diverted $105m worth of pay-as-you-go tax, which should have been remitted to the Australian Taxation Office, using a group of second-tier companies and “straw directors”.
The court was previously told Mr Barrett in January 2017 approached A Current Affair national executive producer Grant Williams, pitching a story about a “major scandal” involving Mr Cranston, whose father is Michael Cranston - at the time the ATO’s deputy commissioner of taxation.
In May 2017, Mr Barrett again contacted Mr Williams and helped another journalist put together a story about the Plutus scandal.
When Australian Federal Police executed a search warrant at the Channel 9 offices, they found an invoice from Mr Barrett’s company for $3000.
The crown has claimed that during a May 2017 meeting at a cafe in Sydney’s The Domain, Mr Hausman paid Mr Barrett $2000.
Mr Steirn told the court that Mr Hausman, who is scheduled to give evidence at Mr Barrett’s trial, could not be trusted because he had negotiated a discount on his sentence in return for giving evidence against other alleged members of the blackmail syndicate.
“He has a perfect motive to lie, nothing is more important than a man’s freedom,” Mr Steirn said.
Mr Cranston had pleaded not guilty to conspiring to dishonestly cause a loss to the commonwealth and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Mr Menon and Mr Onley have pleaded not guilty to being involved in the alleged tax fraud scam and will stand trial next year.
The trial before Justice Peter Johnson continues.
