800 Australians investigated after offshore accounts leak

[webfact]

800 Australians investigated after offshore accounts leak
KRISTEN GELINEAU, Associated Press

SYDNEY (AP) — More than 800 wealthy Australians are under investigation by the Australian Taxation Office for possible tax evasion linked to their alleged dealings with a Panamanian law firm, the tax agency said on Monday.

The investigation comes one day after an international coalition of media outlets published details of an investigation into the offshore financial dealings of the world's wealthy elite, based on a massive cache of documents provided by an anonymous source. The Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said the cache of 11.5 million records detailed the offshore holdings of a dozen current and former world leaders, along with businessmen, celebrities and sports stars.

Ramon Fonseca, a co-founder of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca — one of the world's largest creators of shell companies — confirmed to Panama's Channel 2 television network that the papers were authentic and had been obtained illegally by hackers.

The Australian Tax Office said in a statement that it had identified over 800 individual Australian taxpayers in the data, and linked more than 120 of them to an associate offshore service provider in Hong Kong. The agency did not name the provider.

The tax office's deputy commissioner, Michael Cranston, said the agency was working with the Australian Federal Police, Australian Crime Commission and the nation's financial intelligence agency, Austrac, to cross-check data from the documents.

The tax office has in recent years boosted its focus on taxpayers who fail to disclose offshore income and assets. Cranston said the agency has been analyzing information from the data leak against information taxpayers had reported to the government.

Cranston said the data includes some taxpayers it has previously investigated and a small number who had reported their assets to the tax office under a 2014 voluntary offshore disclosure initiative.

"It also includes a large number of taxpayers who haven't previously come forward, including high wealth individuals, and we are already taking action on those cases," Cranston said in a statement. "Through data analysis we have been able to identify patterns such as clusters of individual taxpayer and advisers for further investigation."

Meanwhile, in neighboring New Zealand, Prime Minister John Key rejected the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists' characterization of his country as among 21 tax havens used by Mossack Fonseca.

"Tax havens are where there is nondisclosure of information," Key said. "New Zealand has full disclosure of information."

Key said the country has had the same tax laws for trusts since 1988, which were given a clean bill of health in a 2013 review by the OECD. He said the country had been strengthening its rules over time.

"You can't stop people writing something that might be factually incorrect," he said of the news reports.

Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse said the country doesn't tax foreign income earned by foreigners and that the same principles apply to trusts.

"It is ridiculous to suggest that New Zealand is a tax haven, as tax havens thrive on secrecy," he said in a statement.

But opposition leader Andrew Little said the country's reputation was at risk because it was becoming a favorite investment location for foreign companies looking to keep their profits tax-free. He said a loophole allowed some foreign trusts to avoid any tax obligations in New Zealand and to avoid filing an annual income tax return there.

"The Prime Minister must take urgent action to close this loophole to protect the integrity of New Zealand's tax system and our international reputation for honesty and transparency," Little said in a statement.
___

Associated Press writer Nick Perry in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-04-04

[how241]

Some are not sleeping well knowing this info is out.

[novo58]

But meanwhile Australia allows many major international companies to pay ZERO TAX on billions in revenue.

[shirtless]

We will see how this works out , either way the tax payer is funding it.

[pookiki]

To every person involved in this matter, I have some questions. How much money is enough? While the 99% of us slog through life, pay their taxes as required, how can the most wealthy of the wealthy morally or ethically avoid paying taxes and being responsible to the country that allowed you to create your wealth in the first place? (The same goes for corporations.)

As the distribution of wealth becomes more skewed each day, why do the wealthy think they should avoid trying to make the world a better place by paying their fair share of taxes? It is this type of moral bankruptcy that will surely lead to our species extinction.

[Pepper1959]

Australia is a legal tax haven to major companies since many have a legal zero tax liability year after year.

[ripstanley]

This was on the ABC 4 Corners tonight

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2016/04/04/4434529.htm

[quandow]

This internet thingy is proving to be troublesome for a LOT of folks.

Take this link for instance. Most people forget the scandals of the Hillary Clinton past, but when you look at it in one accumulated spot, you wonder how the HELL she was never arrested:

http://www.wnd.com/2015/05/here-they-are-hillarys-22-biggest-scandals-ever/

[aussiandrew]

The some old story here we go again. Close one lophole and another will open up.

As long as people have the means they will try anything to avoid their social responsibility. Just follow the individuals from around the world who from time to time make very large donations to charity. More like trying to clear their guilty feeling that keeps them awake at night....

[whatawonderfulday]

And I wonder how many, and how far up, of those currently in Thailand are going to be exposed due to the "Panama Papers" ? Oh dear the anti corruption drive façade may now take on a different face