CANBERRA: Secret overseas bank accounts and other undeclared overseas income, including property proceeds and share-holdings, will be put under the spotlight by the taxman this financial year.
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has flagged an increased use of third party data from sources as diverse as overseas tax jurisdictions, property and share registers, and other government departments, according to H&R Block.
Of particular interest will be capital gains tax from the disposal of shares and property, and foreign source income from employment, businesses, pensions, rent, bank interest and dividends.
Also under review is contractor income from payments made by government agencies, warned the leading tax accounting firm.
‘The intent is to catch taxpayers who are failing to declare income in their returns,’ a firm spokesperson revealed. H&R Block also said the ATO will be looking closely at those little-known areas of the shared economy.
Those areas include renting out parking spaces, those who supply equipment and tools for jobs including musical instruments and sporting goods. The ‘odd-jobs’ market of repairs, errands and deliveries faces scrutiny too.
350,000 taxpayers, on average, are contacted each year about errors in returns with the total Australians will claim back in refunds expected to reach $30 billion.
With a wide-ranging crackdown on the cards new research undertaken by H&R Block & Officeworks has revealed that young Australians, aged between 18 and 24, find tax time the most stressful.
Mark Chapman, H&R Block’s Director of Communications, said the trick was to have tax affairs in order well ahead of the end of the financial year.
‘Burying your head in the sand isn’t a recipe to make the process easier; on the contrary it simply makes the process more stressful when the time comes,’ sources told that.
