ATO hits the asset trail to recover a billion in Protego fraud losses

By Julian Bajkowski

October 27, 2023

Treasury building frontage, Canberra
The ATO’s replacements for Ramiz Katf are yet to appear. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO)  has revealed it will use the commonwealth’s far-reaching proceeds of crime seizure and asset confiscation powers to claw back billions of dollars in revenue losses defrauded from it by first-person fake GST claiming scams promoted by TikTok that prompted Operation Protego rather than more costly civil litigation proceedings.

In a dramatic escalation of Tax’s law enforcement posture, the revenue agency will move against targeted fraudsters’ accumulated assets to check the inflow of funds to organised crime gangs and serial scammers that have used welfare recipients to try and siphon an estimated $4.6 billion in fake refunds over recent months.

The tough stand comes as the revenue agency comes under pressure from policymakers to explain how it failed to detect the massive organic swindle that relied upon thousands of welfare recipients and low-income earners submitting dodgy, artificially inflated goods and services tax (GST) receipts to claim tax refunds for outlays never incurred.

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