This was a an interesting read about an unchecked claim that was exploited to the tune of $2 billion AUD. It must be hard to maintain security under such a complicated and convoluted system. The funny thing was that they knew it was happening and continued to pay out millions more to scammers. It took ~2 years to shut down...
The ATO loophole was so vast that tens of thousands of Australians stole a total of $2 billion.
It was August 2021, and Phillips had just been released from jail. According to court filings, a week after his release, he "opened several bank accounts" in his own name and registered a previously created ABN for GST.
Within a week, the money was in his bank account. That was the trial run. Phillips was only just getting started.
The next month, he lodged 46 separate GST refund claims seeking $821,279 from the ATO.
The problem was that Phillips had been in jail for most of the time covered by these claims. Despite this, the ATO paid up promptly.
All up, the ATO estimated 57,000 people were involved in the scam. Of these, just 122 have been convicted, while the ATO has only recovered $96 million — just 5 per cent of the money stolen from the tax system. The banks have helped recover another $64 million by freezing accounts.