Tax Evasion Investigation
Paul Foley made this Freedom of Information request to Australian Taxation Office
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear Australian Taxation Office,
I have sent 2 registered letters about a business who has refused on three separate occasions to give me a detailed receipt with work done and amount paid. Tax evasion department told me that they never received the registered mail. One as registered mail and the second one was by express registered mail which the post office advised was the best to use. A person emailed me and said that they have received no registered letters, on the second letter I put in brackets (attention fist name second name) I did use the Tax Evasion address and my return address on the back. He told me in an Email that they do not even know who I addressed to. When I sent the second letter I Emailed him and asked if he would notify me if or when he receives it could he let me know. I got no reply from him.
PS. I have gone through this system already and every thing seams to have been taken off the site.
Yours faithfully,
Paul Foley
Dear Mr Foley,
The ATO does not process requests received via righttoknow.org.au.
You can contact the tax evasion area of the ATO on 1800 060 062 or send a
letter to:-
Australian Taxation Office
Tax Evasion
Locked Bag 6050
Dandenong VIC 3175
You can also go onto the ATO website and lodge an online form, the link
below will take you to the page where you can access the link to the
online form;
[1]https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Gen/Repor...
Alternatively you can mail a general enquiry to:
Australian Taxation Office
GPO Box 9990
IN YOUR CAPITAL CITY
Regards,
FOI team
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References
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1. https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Gen/Repor...
Paul Foley left an annotation ()
I have sent 2 registered letters with full information, which have not been answered. This time I have filled in the online report and I am still waiting for information on the proceedings. One thing I forgot to put in the report was the amount of cash handed over $1000.
Locutus Sum left an annotation ()
One more time the FOI Team at the Australian Taxation Office have decided that some parts of the FOI Act, for example ss 15(2)(c) and 15(2A)(c) do not apply to the Australian Taxation Office. You maybe should consider to complain to the Information Commissioner.
For the matter of the disclosure to the ATO of tax evasion, I have heard from an Australian colleague that the ATO usually does not notify an informant of the status of any inquiry following a report of evasion. As you asked for, the best you can receive is an acknowledgment that the information was received.
Ben Fairless left an annotation ()
The Information Commissioner has made a formal recommendation to the ATO to start processing to Freedom of Information requests made via Right to Know. More Information on this can be found here: https://www.openaustraliafoundation.org....
Locutus Sum left an annotation ()
My comment is an addition to the comments by Mr. Fairless. I also make a specific suggestion.
Although the Australian Taxation Office wrote to the applicant to say that the Office would not process the application, something did happen. The thing that happened was that 30 days after the date when the application was lodged, section 15AC(3) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) had the effect of making a "deemed decision" to refuse the request ... this is unless the Commissioner grants more time.
Because of the effect of the Act, I make the following suggestions to the applicant:
(1) Do not write to the Australian Taxation Office and complain that a decision on your request is "overdue". It is not. A deemed decision was made 30 days after you lodged the application.
(2) Instead, use this Right to Know page (or you can create a new request page) to write exactly the same request to the Australian Taxation Office. If you want to grumble, then you can always say (in the new request email) that you made the same request earlier on this-and-then date.
I make this suggestion because if you only write and complain that your request is "overdue", then after a delay, the Australian Taxation Office might (correctly) write back to you and say, "No it is not". Of course, the purpose of this would be to delay to process your request (because the office will now have suddenly a lot of requests) but it will still have the effect that you must lodge a new request. Therefore, you can lose nothing to use this Right to Know page to make a new request now! It will start the clock again.
Paul Foley left an annotation ()
After notifying the taxation department (evasion) through the same address they tell me to send information my mail. I have twice by registered mail and I have been told by email from the taxation department that they do not know who I sent it too.
and they cannot find any mail sent by me. What are the odds that two registered letters sent months apart have not been received.
PS I even put the tax officers name in brackets on the front address with the second letter