White Collar & Corporate
7. Tax Offences
Authors: Staff Legal Eagle
Firm / Chambers:
Last updated: 16 Sep 2015
- Offences relating to tax are governed by both state and Commonwealth laws.
- There is a range of offences in the Commonwealth Criminal Code 1995 that deal with conduct where an individual or individuals do not comply with the tax laws of Australia. The Commonwealth DPP prosecutes the more serious crimes of tax fraud.
- There are a range of tax offences such as:
- failing to submit a tax return;
- obstructing tax collection authorities;
- tax fraud; or
- tax evasion.
- An example of a serious ‘tax fraud’ offence is if you obtain a financial advantage through deception. For this type of offence the prosecution would need to prove that:
- you took a financial advantage from a Commonwealth entity;
- you did this by dishonest or deceptive means; and
- you intended to permanently deprive them of the finances.
- A Commonwealth entity is defined in law but it includes the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
- The full range of sentencing options are usually available for tax offences depending on the seriousness of the conduct and the amount of money taken. The court gives heavy penalties in cases where an individual deliberately and dishonestly takes a financial gain from a Commonwealth entity.
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