Fed: Wealthy people must pay their fair share of tax: Swan

AAP General News (Australia)
04-01-2008
Fed: Wealthy people must pay their fair share of tax: Swan

CANBERRA, April 1 AAP - Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has welcomed a crackdown on wealthy
individuals by the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

The ATO has launched a new program aimed at some 1,200 people with assets worth $30
million and over, saying irrespective of the business and tax advice they receive, they
are responsible for their own tax affairs.

The ATO's high wealth individuals (HWI) taskforce will undertake 200 risk reviews and
start 40 audits during this financial year - up from 22 audits last year which raised
an additional $280 million in revenue.

"Australian families who work hard and do their bit are entitled to expect that wealthy
people actually pay their fair share," Mr Swan told Fairfax radio.

"The tax commissioner ... is making it very clear he's going to make sure they do pay
their fair share and that it will be no excuse to say that somebody else told them not
to do it."

Since the taskforce was established in 1996, additional revenue of $1.7 billion has
been collected and losses of $1.7 billion disallowed, Tax Commissioner Michael D'Ascenzo
says.

At February 29, 2008, the taskforce had raised assessments totalling $171.3 million
and collected $115.9 million from audit activities for this financial year.

The ATO has increased the number of people in the HWI taskforce to 181 and enhanced
its data matching to substantially improve profiling and risk assessment of wealthy individuals.

Mr Swan said the tax commissioner was taking a targeted approach.

"That's a good thing for all taxpayers," he said.

"We are giving tax cuts after the 1st July which are predominantly aimed at low and
middle-income earners, and of course our capacity to do that into the future depends upon
our capacity to ensure all Australian taxpayers are paying their fair share, including
this 1,200 wealthy grouping."

AAP cb/sb/imc/de

KEYWORD: TAX SWAN

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.