Last week, representatives from both the ATO and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission signed up to the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement alliance, also known as the J5, minister for revenue and financial services Kelly O’Dwyer said in a joint statement.
The J5 will be focused on three global tax enforcement initiatives: cybercrime and virtual currencies, enablers of offshore tax crime, and data platforms.
As well as Australia, the J5 includes Canada, the US, the UK and the Netherlands.
Ms O’Dwyer said the J5 will effectively target those who enable and facilitate offshore tax crime and disrupt the serious organised criminal syndicates who evade tax, commit tax fraud and launder the proceeds of their crimes.
“By being a member of the J5, Australia can move beyond sharing data and intelligence, reports and frameworks with international partners,” Ms O’Dwyer said.
“Australia will now work directly with those countries in the J5 to tackle common threats and deliver results.”
Minister for law enforcement and cyber security Angus Taylor said serious financial crime is borderless, with threats located both in Australia and offshore.
“Offshore service providers are playing an increasing role in assisting tax evasion and, in some cases, laundering the proceeds of crime. Offshore cybercriminals are also specialising in targeting Australian financial systems,” Mr Taylor said.
“Australia’s participation in the J5 will strengthen our response to offshore threats and technology-enabled financial crime.”
The ATO said that, since the disclosure of data in the Panama Papers in 2016, it has received 53 voluntary disclosures of understated income exceeding $40 million.
Further, it said it is continuing to work with the Australian Federal Police, ACIC and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) to analyse any information released against their intelligence sources.
Last month, the government announced the establishment of a new advisory board as part of efforts to tackle the black economy.
Some of its other actions also include introducing a $10,000 limit on cash transactions, reforms to the Australian Business Number system, restricting government procurement to businesses that have acceptable tax records, and $315 million in additional funding to the ATO to increase its enforcement activity against black economy behaviour.
