Australia’s Assistant Treasurer Helen Coonan announced last week that the government intends to introduce a new civil penalty in order to deter and punish firms which promote tax evasion schemes.
At present, Australian law does not include any provisions in either the civil or administrative codes which deal with the creation, marketing and selling of tax shelters or tax avoidance plans. However, under new legislation which the government hopes to have in place by January 1 2004, civil courts will be able to impose penalties up to A$550,000 (US$400,000) or double the amount received by the promoter from selling an abusive tax shelter.
"Despite a number of initiatives by the Australian Taxation Office...the present system of penalizing scheme participants and not the unscrupulous scheme promoters does little to deter the ongoing development of such schemes," observed the Assistant Treasurer as she announced the initiative.
However, the new penalties will not apply to those who provide advice on tax arrangements, such as accountants, lawyers, financial planners and tax agents.
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