Taxation Administration Act 1953

A person commits an offence if:

the person makes a statement to a taxation officer; and

the statement is false or misleading in a material particular.

In subsection (1), absolute liability applies to the circumstance, that the statement is false or misleading in a material particular.

For absolute liability, see section 6.2 of the Criminal Code.

A person commits an offence if:

the person makes a statement to a taxation officer; and

the person omits any matter or thing from the statement; and

the statement is misleading in a material particular because of the omission.

In subsection (1B), absolute liability applies to:

the conduct, that the person omits a matter or thing; and

the circumstance, that the statement is misleading in a material particular.

For absolute liability, see section 6.2 of the Criminal Code.

In a prosecution of a person for an offence against subsection (1) or (1B), it is a defence if the person proves that the person:

did not know; and

could not reasonably be expected to have known;

The defendant bears a legal burden in relation to the matter in subsection (2), see section 13.4 of the Criminal Code.

Subsection (1) or (1B) does not apply if:

the statement (the original statement) was made under section 389‑5 in Schedule 1 notifying an amount under item 1 or 2 of the table in subsection 389‑5(1) in that Schedule; and

the original statement related to the financial year in which it was made; and

the person who made the original statement makes a further statement to a taxation officer that corrects the original statement in each of the respects in which it is false or misleading in a material particular; and

the further statement:

is in the approved form; and

if subsection 389‑25(1) in that Schedule provides for a period for correcting the original statement—is made within that period; and

without limiting subparagraph (ii), is made within 14 days after the end of the financial year in which the original statement was made.

A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in subsection (2A), see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code.

Subsection (1) or (1B) does not apply if:

the statement (the original statement) was made under section 390‑5 in Schedule 1; and

the person who made the original statement makes a further statement to a taxation officer that corrects the original statement in each of the respects in which it is false or misleading in a material particular; and

subsection 390‑7(1) in Schedule 1 provides for a period for correcting the original statement; and

the further statement:

is in the approved form; and

is made within the period referred to in paragraph (c) of this subsection.

A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (2B): see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code.

For the purposes of subsection (1B), a person shall not be taken to have omitted a matter or thing from a statement made to a taxation officer merely because the person has, in making the statement, failed to quote the person’s tax file number.