ATO and GST Compliance
How does the ATO detect those who avoid their GST obligations?
The ATO uses a variety of approaches to detect and deal with GST non-compliance, including:
using new software and filters to detect incorrect or fraudulent refund claims or claims for credits on activity statements
data matching information with third parties, including government departments and agencies, to identify taxpayers that are not meeting their tax obligations
developing small business benchmarks for over 100 industries, enhancing our ability to detect businesses that may be avoiding their GST obligations by not reporting income
detecting and prosecuting those using false, manipulated or stolen identities to obtain fraudulent GST refunds
contacting taxpayers with outstanding activity statements
taking firmer action against taxpayers that do not work with us to resolve their debt.
detecting companies that generate serial insolvencies as a way of avoiding their tax obligations (phoenix activities)
focusing on property developers who cheat the community by not reporting GST on property sales and pocketing the GST paid by consumers
taking firmer action against those making fraudulent GST claims
auditing taxpayers who:
deliberately do not register for GST when they need to
intentionally do not report, or consistently under-report, income or other information
collude with others to evade their tax obligations
deliberately do not pay their GST debts.