Sixty-five-year-old Allan Dalton, from Glen Waverley, has been convicted of obtaining and attempting to claim $479,714.84 in GST refunds on behalf of his employee, Greenhills, where he was brought on as a property developer and accountant to assist with the completion of a residential building project.
According to the ATO, the project had run into financial difficulties and Mr Dalton convinced the directors that he had extensive experience in property development and accounting and would be able to get the project back on track.
To help him get the job done, Mr Dalton sought the services of an external accountant to lodge business activity statements (BAS) on behalf of Greenhills. According to ATO, between March 2010 and June 2011, 16 false activity statements were lodged on behalf of the company, with Mr Dalton overstating the expenditure to obtain $479,714.84 in GST refunds.
During this period, Greenhills was only entitled to $52,500 in GST refunds. The refund was subsequently transferred to Mr Dalton’s personal bank account and other bank accounts for which Mr Dalton was a signatory.
The County Court of Victoria convicted Mr Dalton this week of knowingly providing false information to his accountant to commit tax fraud for his own personal financial gain. He was given a reparation order for $479,714.84, the full amount that he illegally obtained.
ATO acting Assistant Commissioner David Mendoza welcomed the sentence handed down and said it was commensurate with the seriousness of Mr Dalton’s crimes.
“Mr Dalton deliberately engaged with an external accountant and knowingly provided false information to him to obtain a personal financial advantage,” Mr Mendoza said.
“As this case demonstrates, if you provide false information to your adviser, you are breaking the law. We will hold you accountable and you will be pursued through the criminal judicial system.”
