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Inflated deductions the latest in a string of offences the ATO cites as cautionary tales for would-be tax dodgers.
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Fake rental property claims punished with $1,500 fine, conviction
22 August 2022
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A South Australian man has received a criminal conviction, been fined $1,500 and ordered to pay $699.30 in reparation after providing false documents to the ATO about rental property deductions.
David Csongrady was audited by the ATO after it noticed that his 2018 tax return had unusually high claims for garden repairs and maintenance at his rental property.
At the ATO’s request, Mr Csongrady supplied photos of tax invoices relating to hire of a skip bin and the removal of dead trees. But a check with the business that provided the services revealed discrepancies.
The original tax invoice for skip hire was for $210, but Mr Csongrady’s record showed $1,090 plus an extra $1,000 for tree removal.
Mr Csongrady was charged with two counts of incorrectly keeping records with the intention of deceiving or misleading a Commonwealth official.
His was just one of a string of false claims that has led to ATO prosecutions this year and cited by the office as cautionary tales.
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In May a former swimming teacher has been sentenced to three years’ jail for attempting to obtain fraudulent GST refunds worth $250,000. She will serve 15 months with a good behaviour bond and was ordered to repay more than $97,000 in fraudulent gains.
In April a Western Australian doctor, Dr Iain Russell, was sentenced to seven months’ jail for a long history of non-compliance. Initially fined $50,000 in February 2020 for failing to lodge five tax returns and 13 business activity statements, he was charged again when he missed a deadline to submit the outstanding returns. After serving two months in jail, he now has until 30 September to make the lodgements.
Also in April, a former tax accountant and bank manager was given three years’ jail for attempting to obtain a financial advantage of more than $390,000. He failed to lodge BAS for two years and owed nearly $200,000 in taxes and penalties that he tried to eliminate with more than 60 false BAS revisions.
Another GST fraudster was given a jail term in March after obtaining more than $171,000 in refunds. The NSW handyman was sentenced to two years and eight months after initially evading authorities.
An illicit tobacco grower, George Samrani, was busted in March and given a nine-month sentence and a $5,550 fine. More than 600 kg of illicit tobacco, worth $250,000, was found at a Queensland property where Mr Samrani was boss.
Meanwhile in January a Perth man who pretended to be running a business to make fraudulent GST refunds worth more than $250,000 was sentenced to three years’ jail and ordered to repay $187,486.
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