Custody Control and Offshore Affiliates

Abstract

The expansion in the number and size of foreign operations of Australian taxpayers, Australian operations of foreign taxpayers and the growing awareness in the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) of the extent to which Australian taxpayers living or investing abroad do not lodge returns or understate their income have emphasised the importance of enforcing taxation obligations associated with the international operations of Australian taxpayers. A prerequisite of the ATO's successful tax enforcement efforts, domestically and internationally, is the compilation of pertinent information on taxpayer activities. Therefore, an effective and efficient process of collecting adequate amounts of usable information is crucial to the success of the ATO in its tax enforcement task.