Australian Government Criticized For Ignoring Tax Evasion Problem

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

21 January 2002

Following its announcement of a major crackdown on welfare cheats, the Australian Government has been forced to defend itself against allegations that it is attempting to divert attention away from confusion over anti-tax evasion measures.

Both the Labor Party and the country's welfare sector have accused the Howard administration of targeting the weakest opponents while failing to tackle the strong, in the form of high income tax evaders. 'We don't quibble with attempts to catch genuine welfare fraudsters, but they're just looking to beat up on someone and people on welfare are the weakest targets,' explained Labor Family spokesman, Wayne Swan.

However, the Family and Community Services Minister, Amanda Vanstone, has denied the allegations, promising that the government will be just as tough on high net worth tax evaders. 'When I had the portfolio of Justice and Customs, we had the National Crime Authority working with the tax office, which was extremely successful at the top end of town in terms of tax compliance,' she protested.

The Howard government has been accused of a lack of coherence and intergovernmental communication over tax, with ATO Commissioner, Michael Carmody stating at beginning of the year that he would be petitioning the government for new powers and autonomy for his department, while in another newspaper interview, newly appointed Assistant Treasurer, Helen Coonan, suggested that the appointment of an independent Inspector General to scrutinise the tax office might be on the cards this year.

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