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A Victorian accountant has been sent to jail over fraudulent BAS statements.
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Accountant jailed over $390k tax fraud
13 April 2022
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Former Melbourne accountant Immanuel Shmuel has been sentenced to three years’ jail for tax fraud by the County Court.
He was convicted of attempting to obtain a financial advantage of more than $390,000 by amending his business activity statements to reduce his existing debt and receive a refund.
As the director, owner and authorised tax representative of E.C Services Pty Ltd (a bank franchisee), Mr Shmuel failed to lodge his BAS between July 2012 and June 2014.
The ATO commenced an audit looking into the missing BAS, which resulted in almost $200,000 raised in outstanding debt and penalties.
When Mr Shmuel failed to pay the amount owing, the ATO applied to the Supreme Court to have the company wound up.
But in the meantime, over a two-day period, Mr Shmuel lodged 66 false BAS revisions, deliberately reducing the pay-as-you-go withholding to nil.
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The ATO found not only did this eliminate the debt, but it also created a purported credit of $144,538.
Further investigations found the revisions were entirely fraudulent. Mr Shmuel subsequently requested a refund of the credit amount; however, the ATO did not pay out the refund.
Mr Schmuel’s tax practitioner registration was also terminated by the Tax Practitioners Board.
ATO assistant commissioner Megan Croaker welcomed the sentence and said it reflected the serious nature of Mr Shmuel’s crimes.
“Tax professionals play an integral role in supporting the tax and super systems for all Australians,” Ms Croaker said.
“We have a shared interest with registered agents, the Tax Practitioners Board and tax professional associations to protect the community and the integrity of Australia’s tax and super system.
“Those people who try to evade or cheat the system will get caught and firm action will be taken. We have systems in place to detect this type of behaviour and it will not be tolerated.
“We welcome the sentence and will continue to work with tax professionals to ensure the integrity of the system and to protect honest tax professionals and the community from these types of crimes.”
Individuals can anonymously report tax evasion and crime activities to the ATO via the app or by calling 1800 060 062.
This matter was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
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