The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is currently targeting areas of the nation that have a lot of cash-only businesses, with businesses being investigated including restaurants, hairdressers and beauty parlours. According to the ATO, the areas in question often have high immigrant numbers. From The Australian:
The area-by-area blitz — which includes Sydney’s Cabramatta and Chinatown, Melbourne’s Glen Waverley, Brisbane’s Sunnybank, Adelaide’s Glenelg and Perth’s CBD — was initiated at the behest of Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan.
During his interview series with The Australian, Mr Jordan has revealed the sneak attack on the black economy was a personal initiative, as he attempts to stem the huge leakage of cash from the tax system…
The Australian can today reveal the full list of key areas Mr Jordan has targeted so far, many with large immigrant communities where the use of cash is widely preferred for transactions.
They are: Haymarket (Chinatown), Cabramatta and Liverpool in Sydney; Box Hill, Glen Waverley and Werribee in Melbourne; Sunnybank in Brisbane; the Adelaide CBD and Glenelg in South Australia; and the Canberra, Perth and Gold Coast CBDs.
Some areas have already been remarkably fruitful sources of revenue.
From 159 visits to Sydney’s Chinatown, the ATO uncovered $18.3m in misreported transactions, and imposed $4m in tax and penalties. Cash reported in Chinatown businesses subject to audit increased by 27 per cent.
From 131 visits to Melbourne’s Box Hill, $8m in misreported transactions were uncovered, resulting in $1.8m in tax and penalties…
Mr Jordan has suggested that Sydney’s Chatswood, another area with a large immigrant population, is one area almost certain to be a future target.
“(They say) ‘Sorry for the inconvenience but we don’t take (bank) cards’,” Mr Jordan said. “Well, why?”…
Intriguingly, Mr Jordan said the ATO was drilling down into links between areas with high immigrant populations, high levels of cash-only businesses, and a high proportion of $100 banknotes. “Certain ethnic backgrounds deal in $100 notes,” he said. The ATO believes that some of this cash is legitimate, but some may not be…
It was revealed earlier this year by the federal government’s black economy taskforce that it was investigating the installation of hi-tech chips on $100 notes, or even giving the notes expiry dates, amid suggestions the notes were particularly popular among ethnic Chinese.
We also know that Australia’s various migrant worker programs and visa system is being systemically rorted by employers, which is likely also robbing the Budget of much-needed income tax revenue. In fact, according to the Fair Work Ombudsmen, three quarters of wage fraud cases involved foreign workers on visas.
The whole system needs to be cleaned-out.
