Tax schemes fooling accountants
Tax avoidance schemes claiming to be Australian Taxation Office (ATO) approved need to be verified, the ATO warned.
The tax body said there has been recent schemes not only fooling those with little or no financial knowledge but accountants that have been considered as savvy investors.
ATO deputy commissioner, Tim Dyce, said the scheme had offered to help pay off a mortgage in five years and was openly marketed from a shopping centre kiosk where brochures promoted it as "tax effective", and was "ATO approved".
"Today, dodgy tax schemes are very slick with a veneer of respectability… They're dressed up with glossy promotional brochures and are marketed openly by extremely plausible promoters," he said.
"If the outcome seems excessively generous, if you are urged to get into it without delay, if they say its ATO approved but don't produce any evidence, you need independent, professional advice."
Arrangements that attract ATO scrutiny include:
- deductions or tax offsets that seems very large compared to the amount invested;
- mixing private and business expenses;
- investing now with no return for many years if ever;
- overly complex financing arrangements;
- loans that never need to be repaid; or
- claiming deductions for money not spent.
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