The Sunshine Coast Hinterland has emerged as one of the nation’s most active regions for dobbing in suspected tax rorts, with new figures showing Australians are raising almost one thousand red flags a week about alleged shadow economy behaviour.
The ATO has received more than 300,000 community tip-offs about tax avoidance and dishonest conduct since July 2019.
Almost 50,000 were lodged in the current financial year, and the ATO says the majority relate to under-the-table cash payments, unreported sales and questionable business expense claims.
Assistant Commissioner Tony Goding said the community was losing billions each year through ‘shadow economy’ activity that he says stripped funding from hospitals, schools, transport and disaster response.
He said businesses that dodge their obligations were “freeloading on honest operators and the rest of the community”. “If you are operating in the shadow economy, the ATO will discover this sooner rather than later.
“Our data-matching systems and reporting regimes are extensive, and tip-offs from workers, customers and competitors are adding to the intelligence.”
While Sydney and Melbourne generate the highest number of tip-offs overall, the strongest regional surge has come from Queensland. Newcastle topped the nation for regional reports, followed closely by Robina, the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, Townsville and Toowoomba.
Suspicious behaviour reported this year includes businesses that insist on cash, operators who fail to declare sales, workers paid without payslips or superannuation, and lavish lifestyles that do not align with declared income. Cafés and restaurants, building and construction, and hairdressing and beauty services have attracted the most complaints.
Mr Goding said the community was increasingly unwilling to tolerate unfair competition.
“When people cheat the system they are harming honest businesses and shifting the burden to other taxpayers. Those who are caught face significant penalties, interest and potentially criminal sanctions.”
Around 85 per cent of tip-offs have been assessed as suitable for investigation.