The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) received more than 10,000 tip-offs from Queenslanders last financial year, with the state’s regional centres topping the nation in tax avoidance sleuths.
Across the county, the ATO has now received 250,000 tip-offs from the community about tax avoidance and other dishonest behaviours since July 1, 2019, with more than 47,000 tip-offs reported in the 2023–24 financial year.
ATO Assistant Commissioner Tony Goding said Australians were fed up with dodgy behaviours in the community.
Mr Goding said people were tipping off the ATO about taxpayers not declaring income, demanding cash from customers, paying workers in cash to avoid paying tax and super, not reporting sales, and where someone’s lifestyle didn’t appear to match their income.
“It’s not just about ‘cash only’ or ‘EFTPOS out of order’ signs,” he said.
“The ATO estimates there is around $16 billion in stolen taxes because of businesses doing things like cash jobs each year.
“These businesses are deliberately undercutting their competitors and gaining an unfair advantage in their industry.”
Mr Goding said building and construction, cafes and restaurants and hairdressing and beauty services topped the list of industries the ATO was tipped off about in 2023–24.
He said 15,516 tip-offs were received from New South Wales residents in 2023–24, followed closely by Victorians (11,256 tip-offs) and Queenslanders (10,629 tip-offs).
“While Sydney and Melbourne had the most tip-offs, reports are not only coming from capital cities. The top 5 regional post codes that we received tip-offs from this year were all from Queensland.”
He said they were Southport, Bundaberg, Toowoomba, Mackay and Caboolture.
“Community tip-offs are one of our best sources of information when it comes to tackling the shadow economy,” Mr Goding said.
He said about 90 percent of tip-offs analysed by the ATO in 2023–24 were deemed as being suitable for further investigation.
