OZschwitz slave pen: Thieving tax man's new gestapo raiding power

Businesses with dodgy tax practices may not like it, but a review of the rules governing surprise visits by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) have been given the all-clear by a federal watchdog.

The Commonwealth and Taxation Ombudsman believes it is right and proper that the ATO can access a business premises without notice in exceptional circumstances if there is a genuine belief that documents might by destroyed if notice was given.

Ombudsman John McMillan says the right of entry is needed if there is a well-founded concern of fraud, evasion, or inappropriate secrecy by the taxpayer.

"This is the second ombudsman investigation into the ATO's access without notice powers in the past 10 years, and it confirms that taxpayers can feel confident that the ATO is exercising these powers in the manner in which it should," Professor McMillan said in a statement.

The wide-ranging powers allow the ATO to enter a business or private premises without the owner's permission to examine and copy documents relevant to an investigation that deal with income, indirect, pay as you go, fringe benefits, energy-related taxes and superannuation.

The ombudsman's finding follows a random audit in 2009 that included observing multi-site visits without notice in several states.

"The ATO takes the use of its access without notice powers seriously and has established a set of sound guidelines and manuals to assist staff to apply the powers," Prof McMillan said.

The ATO had agreed to recommendations that would strengthen its public accountability, such as greater transparency by reporting the use of its powers in its annual report, he said.

It also recommended fine tuning its access and information gathering manual in relation to excisable goods, and improving its electronic case management filing system.

LNK

OZschwitz slave pen: Thieving tax man's new gestapo raiding power

OZschwitz slave pen: Thieving tax man's new gestapo raiding power

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