- New taxpayer alert warns about GST refund fraud
- Businesses risk serious consequences for claiming inflated refunds
- Alert published on 24 July 2025
- Businesses colluding to create fraudulent invoices for GST refunds
- Fraud involves overclaiming GST credits or using fictitious invoices
- Exploiting the GST system is a criminal offence
- Fraud prevalent in property and construction industry
- Signs of fraud spreading to other industries, especially wealthy groups
- Small number of businesses attempting fraud for tens of millions of dollars
- Fraud harms honest businesses, industry reputation, and tax system
- Not related to social media GST fraud scheme
- Authorities equipped to uncover financial crime
- Company directors responsible for GST obligations
- Promoter penalty laws apply to agents and advisers
- Criminal cases may lead to imprisonment
- Encouragement for honest businesses to report suspicious activities
- Voluntary disclosure encouraged for those involved in fraud
Source: ato.gov.au
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
