According to the ATO, the top five categories of JobKeeper tip-offs received related to allegations that employers are not passing on the full $1,500, allegations that businesses have not met the turnover requirement, fair work issues, employee eligibility and the “one in, all in” principle.
Overall, the ATO received 56,000 tip-offs in the 2019–20 financial year, while in the 2020–21 financial year it has received 19,000 tip-offs.
Approximately 16 per cent of the total tip-offs received have been allegations of misconduct in relation to the government’s COVID-19 stimulus measures.
The top five most common behaviours reported in the tip-offs were taxpayers not declaring all income (58 per cent of tip-offs), demanding or paying for work cash in hand to avoid obligations (28 per cent), all sales not being reported (23 per cent), has a lifestyle that does not match their income (23 per cent) and other behaviours (17 per cent).
The top five industries reported for the 2020 financial year were building and construction, cafés and restaurants, hairdressing and beauty services, cereal grain wholesaling, management advice and related consulting services, and road freight transport.
The ATO said it has developed specialised teams to address allegations relating to JobKeeper and other government stimulus measures to ensure it is actioning tip-offs faster and investigations are progressed in a timely manner.
“We’ve developed strategies for sharing information directly with external agencies where permitted by law such as the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Tax Practitioners Board, Australian Border Force and Australian Federal Police while maintaining taxpayer and informant privacy,” the ATO said.
