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The Australian Tax Office is seeking increased penalties for
offshore tax evasion. Photo: Michel O'Sullivan

THE Australian Tax office is pushing for more powers to
investigate secret tax havens as well as increased penalties
for offshore tax evasion.

Documents released under freedom of information reveal that the
Tax Office and other law enforcement agencies participating in
Project Wickenby, an inter-agency taskforce targeting offshore
tax evasion, have been quietly developing a comprehensive raft
of new measures to combat abuse of ''secrecy havens'' -
overseas countries with secretive tax or financial systems that
offer minimal taxes for non-residents.

The Tax Office wants the new measures to stem tax evasion
introduced before funding for Project Wickenby expires in 2013
and they are expected to be considered by the federal
government this year.

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Documents released by the Attorney-General's Department show
the Tax Office has been working with the Australian Crime
Commission, Australian Federal Police, Commonwealth Director of
Public Prosecutions, the Australian Securities and Investments
Commission, the anti-money laundering agency AUSTRAC and the
departments of the Treasury, Attorney-General and Immigration
and Citizenship to develop tax reform proposals.

These include improved information flows between Australian
government agencies; greater use of telecommunications
interception powers; expanding the definition of money in
anti-money laundering laws, greater information exchanges with
foreign governments; strengthened international debt recovery
measures; and reciprocal recognition of foreign tax debts.

The agencies have also been considering increased penalties for
offshore tax evasion.

A number of measures were canvassed in a submission by Treasury
to federal cabinet on May 16 last year.

Further reform proposals were forecast for submission to
cabinet late last year or early this year.

But the Attorney-General's Department has declined to release
the detailed policy proposals, telling The Age: ''The
finer details of these law reform proposals have not yet been
put to ministers; there have been no major public announcements
on this subject; and the issues are still at the very
preliminary stages of policy development … full disclosure
would … run contrary to the interests of good government.''

Since 2006, Project Wickenby has resulted in 62 people being
charged with serious tax avoidance, money laundering and fraud.
Twenty-one people have been convicted, although the taskforce
has had setbacks, including the abortive legal pursuit of actor
Paul Hogan. Nearly $594 million in outstanding tax revenue has
been recovered and $1.18 billion in tax liabilities has been
raised.

Assistant Treasurer Mark Arbib yesterday confirmed a
''multi-agency working group'' was working on ''cracking down
on illegal offshore tax evasion''.

''We make no apologies for pursuing those who deliberately
evade tax through elaborate schemes,'' he said. ''They are not
just defrauding the government, they are defrauding all
Australians. The government continually consults our
enforcement agencies to improve and strengthen their ability to
catch those who use offshore jurisdictions to avoid tax.''

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New crackdown on offshore tax evasion