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The ATO has raised just under $2 billion in liabilities related to fraudulent GST refunds as part of Operation Protego and continues to make referrals to the AFP, the Commissioner of Taxation has said.
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ATO continues debt recovery actions against GST fraudsters
22 October 2024
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Commissioner of Taxation Rob Heferen said the ATO is continuing to apply a range of debt recovery actions and proceeds of crime referrals to the AFP for individuals involved in fraudulent GST refunds and is also actively considering departure prohibition orders.
In a recent address at The Tax Institute’s National GST Conference, Heferen said the ATO has now taken compliance action against more than 57,000 clients involved in the large-scale GST fraud event investigated by the ATO as part of Operation Protego.
The fraud involved individuals inventing a fake business, lodging a fraudulent ABN application, and submitting fictitious BASs to attempt to gain a GST refund.
As part of Operation Protego, Heferen said the ATO stopped around $2.7 billion in fraudulent GST refunds from being paid to individuals seeking to exploit the tax system.
The operation has also now raised just under $2 billion in liabilities related to fraudulent GST refunds that were paid to clients.
"Through our work with law enforcement and through our ATO Serious Financial Crime taskforce we have seen more than 100 suspected perpetrators arrested, including members of outlaw motorcycle gangs, organised criminal organisations, and youth crime gangs," Heferen said.
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The most recent arrest was the arrest of a Victorian woman last week, who was sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 2 years and 4 months, after she claimed nearly $600,000 in GST refunds from 27 fraudulent business activity statements lodged.
"We are currently implementing a suite of measures and administrative actions to better protect the system from these types of attacks now and into the future," Heferen said.
Heferen said the ATO would balance measures aimed at stopping fraudulent refunds with the need for legitimate businesses to receive their legitimate refunds.
"Our focus on enhancing counter-fraud measures has been bolstered this year through specific Government funding for our Counter Fraud Program over the next 4 years," he said.
"Under this program, we will continue to grow the capability and tools we need to respond to fraud in an agile and sophisticated way, collecting data and information to detect and address fraud in close to real time."
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