Friday, September 20, 2024

Scams shattering Indian students' dreams of studying in Australia

Generally speaking, most money comes to tax havens through three illegal sources: tax evasion in other developed countries, the blood money of dictators and other rulers in the Third World and organized crime…


As  Denis Healeyformer UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, put it 

“The difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion is the thickness of a prison wall.


ROBERT GOTTLIEBSEN on ATO Data Matching


Assistant Commissioner Jade Hawkins condemned the behaviour and hoped it served as a warning to others.

Mr Swan was in a position of trust within the community, and he exploited it,’ Ms Hawkins.

‘Tax professionals play an integral role in supporting the tax and super systems and we, alongside the Tax Practitioners Board, will take action against those who threaten the integrity of the system.’

Mr Swan’s offending included redirecting his client’s funds to his personal bank account from submitting tax return amendments, COVID-19 JobKeeper payments, and Cash Flow Boost for Employers.

As a result of his behaviour, Mr Swan was deregisteredExternal Link by the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) in September 2022 for breaching the Tax Agent Service Act 2009.

‘Registered agents, tax professional associations and the TPB are working together to hold dishonest tax agents accountable, protect the community and the integrity of Australia’s tax and super system,’ Ms Hawkins said.

‘Tax agents who do not meet professional standards are gaining unfair advantage over others who do the right thing.’

Banned tax agent jailed for fraud A former tax agent has been sentenced to 5 years in jail, with a non-parole period of 3 years


Open doors for the American dream. Reagan’s last speech as president (1989)


Billionaire investor warns of threat to democracyBBC


Homing pigeon missiles, dead trout swimming, butt breathing honored with Ig Nobel Prize The Register


Online Dating Caused a Rise in US Income Inequality, Research Paper Shows Bloomberg


CIA and Spanish Intelligence Behind Latest Terrorist Plot in Venezuela Orinoco Tribune


Owner of company that spied on Assange for the CIA was collaborating with Spain’s secret service El 



Ig Nobel prizes 2024: The unexpected science that won this year New Scientist 


Why Are Bands Mysteriously Disappearing? YouTube 


Business heavyweights have sounded a warning about the economic dangers of populism, saying it threatens to corrode trust in key institutions and make it harder to achieve much-needed policy reforms.
As the federal government faces a business backlash over industrial relations, corporate leaders gathered for the Business Council of Australia’s annual dinner in Sydney on Tuesday criticised the rising populist tone in public debate, and called for businesses and the government to work together.

Tax avoidance and tax evasion cause major problems to the assessment and collection of tax and invariably attack the integrity of any tax system. Denis Healey, former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer once said “The difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion is the thickness of a prison wall.” His quote graphically illustrates that tax avoiders, generally, remain on the outside of the prison wall, while some tax evaders are detained inside. 
This quote from Denis Healey implies that there is a significant difference between the technical legal positions of tax evasion and tax avoidance, in the sense that one is a criminal action and the other is not. But it also implies that tax avoidance is rather close, perhaps ten centimetres away, from tax evasion. 
The writer’s hypothesis is that while most taxation experts believe it is abundantly clear what constitutes tax evasion rather than tax avoidance, they are oversimplifying the position. The difference between the two legal concepts may be obvious in the vast majority of circumstances. But in fact, consistent with the implication from Healey's quote, on occasions tax avoidance and tax evasion may be so closely interrelated so as to have common features. 
If this fusion occurs a frightening outcome for taxpayers, and also potentially tax advisers, may ensue.The question this article seeks to answer is: when, if ever, does participation in a tax avoidance scheme become a criminal offence? When do tax avoidance schemes not only cross the line of acceptable tax planning and become void for tax purposes, but go further and cross the line of legality? 
When might the tax administrators, in battling an egregious tax avoidance dispute, send in the heavy artillery of criminal prosecution?The conclusion reached is that, rather surprisingly, there are many common features shared by tax avoidance schemes and behaviour that may offend against a criminal provision. Although any case would be highly fact specific, behaviour by a taxpayer involving deceit may have the requisite mental element to constitute a crime.
Taxpayers and their advisers need to be aware of the rules and case law in this area in order to ensure their compliance. In contrast awareness of the possibility of criminal charges may be an important addition to the arsenal of the tax administrator.



 The federal government has capped international student enrolments and introduced higher English proficiency requirements to curb net migration and stamp out fraud in the industry. 

Police at one Chandigarh station in northern India estimate nearly 400 families have fallen victim to visa fraud.

The registration for Willows Institute, one of the colleges offered as a place where Indian students could study, was cancelled in June 2024.