08 Apr 2021 ATO News

What attracts the ATO’s attention: Duty-unpaid alcohol 

The ATO has increased its focus on activities where alcohol products are reaching retailers and consumers without the required excise or customs duty being paid.  

Some of the activities that attract the ATO’s attention are: 

The ATO has also published Taxpayer Alert TA 2021/1 Retail sale of illicit alcohol which focuses on arrangements where retailers are knowingly or recklessly purchasing illicit alcohol for the purposes of resale.  

More information can be found here. 

Trio penalised over $9.4 million for their roles in tax exploitation scheme 

The Federal Court has imposed a penalty of over $9.4 million on a solicitor, financial planner and accountant for promoting a tax exploitation scheme.  

Investigations by the ATO found that Dr Bruce Rowntree, Mr Rinaldo Manietta and Mr Peter Donkin exploited their positions as advisers to promote a scheme in which they marketed Emission Reduction Purchase Agreements to clients on the wrongful basis of claiming a full deduction on credits that did not exist. Roughly 200 individuals and businesses used this scheme. 

The trio charged their clients a 15% non-refundable deposit as a fee. In return, they promised an immediate reduction to their clients’ taxable income and a consequential tax saving that far exceeded their initial deposit.  

The ATO stated that the penalties handed down reflects the seriousness of the conduct and the scale of the scheme. 

Read more here.