The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has revealed that Wodonga, a town on the Victorian-New South Wales border, was one of the top five regional locations for reporting tax evasion and other potentially illegal activity in the last financial year.
Across Australia, the ATO received 43,000 tip-offs about issues such as paying workers cash in hand or not declaring all sales. ATO assistant commissioner Peter Holt said Wodonga, the Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Wellington, and the Mornington Peninsula were the regional areas with the most tip-offs.
From the Wodonga region alone, 155 tip-offs were submitted, a figure Mr Holt described as a 'significant increase' from the previous year. He attributed this to the community's proactive nature in sharing information with the ATO.
Graham Jenkin, chief executive of Business Wodonga, suggested the high number of tip-offs reflects excellent community standards. He noted that businesses operating ethically are keen to report competitors who undercut them by accepting cash payments without paying tax.
The ATO's latest update identified the building and construction industry, hairdressing and beauty services, cafes and restaurants, road freight transport, and management consulting as sectors receiving the most tip-offs. A key issue was businesses demanding cash payments, a trend Mr Holt called surprising, noting a re-emergence of cash hoarding that the ATO is monitoring closely.
