Yahoo Finance 2.5 years jail for man who claimed $1m tax refunds while unemployed
A 28-year-old man has been sentenced to two and a half years in jail after attempting to claim $1 million in fraudulent tax refunds.
Between the 2012 and 2016 financial years, Western Australian man, Reece Potter, submitted five original and three amended tax returns falsely claiming he was working for a meat company that was withholding tax.
The fraudulent claims led to Potter receiving four electronic refunds worth $42,191. However, he would have received another $1 million in refunds if the Australian Tax Office (ATO) hadn’t paused the payments to conduct an investigation into Potter’s claims.
The ATO found that while he had been employed by the meat company in the 2012 income year, he had changed his assessable income to obtain a significantly larger refund. Over the next four years, the man claimed he had been paid more than $3 million in salary and wages.
In a statement, the ATO said Potter increased his claims every time he lodged - not knowing the ATO was already investigating his case.
Potter now needs to repay the $42,191 he received, in addition to serving the prison sentence.
"This outcome highlights that people who try to cheat the tax and super systems will get caught and we will take firm action,” Assistant Commissioner Ian Read said.
“Tax crime is not victimless. Mr Potter effectively stole money from the pockets of taxpayers, money that was otherwise set to fund vital public services that the community relies upon.”
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