Project DO IT update
The ATO says that its voluntary disclosure initiative, Project DO IT (in relation to taxpayers coming forward and disclosing overseas income and assets), is receiving a strong response with a number of people having already come forward to make a disclosure. So far the ATO has received over 350 inquiries, almost 100 disclosures lodged and a strong indication that many others will make a disclosure in the near future.
Editor: To remind clients, Project 'DO IT' (i.e., 'disclose offshore income today') is an amnesty for taxpayers with offshore assets or income to voluntarily come clean by 19 December 2014.
Under Project DO IT, taxpayers:
- are encouraged to disclose omitted income or over-claimed deductions relating to their offshore activities;
- will not be investigated or referred for criminal investigation by the ATO; and
- will generally only be assessed for the last four years.