Aust. Minister defends tax clamp-down record

Press, 29 June 1982, Page 9

Aust. Minister defends tax clamp-down record

NZPA Canberra The Australian Federal Treasurer (Mr John Howard) has launched a big campaign' to defend the Governments record in clamping down on tax avoidance schemes. Mr Howard said that the next annual report from the Commissioner of Taxation would name a wider range of companies involved in the tax avoidance schemes than was revealed in ' the Victorian Government's McCabe-Lafranchi report last month. The McCabe -Lafranchi report revealed that 923 companies had used the schemes to avoid about sAust2oo

million in taxes. It placed much of the blame on the Federal Taxation Department. Mr Howard said that report, had been used as a political tool by the Victorian Premier (Mr John Cain). Mr How-ard said that the report had created the impression that the Federal Government just stood by and let certain avoidance practices grow unhindered and that "bottom-of-the-har-bour” schemes continued after remedial legislation. "Bottom-of-the- harbour" schemes involve the use of companies. often with dummy directors and fake

addresses. which were stripped of their assets so that any tax liability could not be paid and the companies records were "lost.” Mr Howard said that current legislation had effectively stopped the schemes. The Taxation Office had been aware of the schemes before 1979-80 but their full extent had not become apparent until then. Strong public attitudes to tax avoidance had not been evident then. "Public hositility has grown as tax avoidance practices have received considerable publicity and as the Government has intensified its campaign against them,"

.Mr Howard said. The Taxation Office had tried unsuccessfully to launch prosecutions against the schemes and had begun moves, to make tax avoidance a criminal offence through the Crimes (Taxation Offences) Act. Mr Howard said that one of the most unfortunate aspects of the McCabe/Lafranchi report was that it had created the impression that the schemes referred to were new’ and that revenue losses identified were new. "The only new feature of the report was that for the first time ... companies were identified by name."