# Tax evasion



## Paul Collins (Dec 12, 2016)

Ok, regarding 'cash' jobs and the ATO.

I have just talked to the ATO in detail about the possible situations that may arise.

Bottom line is, that if you have an ABN and are GST registered and you do any jobs outside of the uber or another rideshare platform, with payment by cash/eftpos or any other method to anyone, then you must declare the income and pay the GST. To not do this is clearly tax evasion and fines apply.

To not do declare income and pay the GST is complete stupidity as the ATO have many advanced ways of detecting such tax evasion and 'Rideshare' and specifically 'uber' are very much under their current radar. This includes detecting if the 'mate' had taken a ride with you previously on the uber platform as those details are available to the ATO on request.

Excuses like, 'just doing a mate home' will only work if you are not an ridesahre driver and you were paid voluntary and did not tout for payment. Even then the payment should only cover the actual costs of the trip and not be a regular occurrence.

If you are a rideshare driver, have an ABN and are GST registered then doing any 'mates' trips are assessable.


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## χ²(1) (Jun 1, 2016)

Given the number of taxi drivers getting away with identical methods of tax evasion for eons, it's unlikely the ATO have such "advanced ways of detecting" such tax evasion.


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## Instyle (Oct 18, 2014)

χ²(1) said:


> Given the number of taxi drivers getting away with identical methods of tax evasion for eons, it's unlikely the ATO have such "advanced ways of detecting" such tax evasion.


It only takes someone to forward a text msg or email and thats likely enough evidence to at least look into it further.


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## Paul Collins (Dec 12, 2016)

χ²(1) said:


> Given the number of taxi drivers getting away with identical methods of tax evasion for eons, it's unlikely the ATO have such "advanced ways of detecting" such tax evasion.


Well they do and can get data from uber about your past trips as a driver and who the riders were. No anonymity in uber compared to a ca


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## χ²(1) (Jun 1, 2016)

Paul Collins said:


> No anonymity in uber compared to a cabs


Cab drivers have an ABN i.e. no anonymity



Paul Collins said:


> Well they do and can get data from uber about your past trips as a driver and who the riders were.


Cash-in-hand jobs won't appear in this data


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## whocareaboutPAX (Apr 11, 2016)

You must have two very tidy shoes. Better chance winning lotto, then being caught by ATO for odd cash jobs. Just don't be stupid about them and you'll be fine.


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## Paul Collins (Dec 12, 2016)

Instyle said:


> It only takes someone to forward a text msg or email and thats likely enough evidence to at least look into it further.


Or for the ATO to monitor uber driver forums, like this one or any and all FB driver groups.


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## Instyle (Oct 18, 2014)

Paul Collins said:


> Or for the ATO to monitor uber driver forums, like this one or any and all FB driver groups.


More so Facebook, the soliciting for info or touting for jobs on UP is generally discouraged.


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## Liam Hodgkinson (Mar 15, 2017)

Yes, you have spoken with the ATO, and of course they will tell you that everything is assessible... Their entire website with FAQ's are presented exactly as the tax system would like it to be in an ideal world and they really do not care to what lengths you go to to make sure you pay every cent you owe... 

But in the real world, ATO know that "cash jobs" exist and are across many industries (almost all) but there really isn't a way to detect it unless a party decides they want to claim a deduction against it, and the other party hasn't declared the income - Computer Assisted Audits detect these sorts of things by matching numbers against ABN's / TFN's


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