ATO focuses on high net worths

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has confirmed it has identified and is monitoring the compliance of 2,660 Australian high net worth individuals, including getting in contact with their accountants and advisers.

The degree to which the ATO is looking at high net worths has been revealed by the Tax Commissioner, Michael D'Ascenzo while addressing a conference in New Zealand.

The Tax Commissioner referred to the continuing growth in international transactions associated with high net worths and said data sharing, mining and matching had proved particularly useful in the ATO's work.

He said that as at June, this year, the ATO had identified and was monitoring the 2,660 high net worth individuals and detailed the most common risks associated with the group as being capital gains tax not being returned, access to company profits other than via dividends, overseas interests and international dealings, and arrangements involving trusts.

"Our data analysis has become sophisticated to the point that we can not only better identify these individuals, but we can usually link them back to entities they control, in order to provide a bigger picture of their wealth," the Tax Commissioner said.

"As with our other business lines, we apply a differentiated approach to this sector, so that our resources are used to focus on those high wealth individuals who pose the greatest risk of non-compliance," he said.