In the case of an Australian actor Paul Hogan, who had already been accused of defrauding the tax office by establishing loan scheme with an offshore company GB Film Finance registered in the British Virgin Islands, new allegations appeared against him and his advisers who “had the intention of breaching tax laws.” According to documents that were made public by the High Court, Hogan and his advisers concealed information from the tax office, failed to declare income and misled tax officials about his residence. The documents containing allegations and made by the Australian Crime Commission are to be used in a case against Hogan.
The documents include detailed tax advice from Ernst & Young on how the actor could minimize tax by moving tens of millions of dollars between companies and family trusts in US and Australia. The ACC alleges that Hogan’s advisers, on his behalf, “concealed relevant matters” from the Australian Tax Office, including the fact that Hogan was half-owner of the British Virgin Islands-registered offshore companies GB Film and Trelene Investments. According to the ACC, he failed to tell the taxman about a $US5 mln payment from Trelene; also, he avoided tax by failing to declare as income a $US4mln loan from GB Film. The ACC alleges that he even claimed a tax deduction on the US$910,000 in interest he paid the company.