The Artful Aussie Tax Dodger: 100 Years of Tax Reform in Australia

In The Artful Aussie Tax Dodger Lex Fullarton studies the impact of 100 years of taxation legislation in Australia 1915–2016. He finds that despite the lessons of a century of actions and reactions of taxpayers and administrators little changes—despite entering a new century old habits are hard to break.

At Federation on January 1, 1901, the Commonwealth of Australia was empowered to impose income tax on its citizens. However, it was not until September 3, 1915 that it began a century of ‘tax reform’ when its first Income Tax Assessment Act was introduced. For 100 years, driven by the winds of various political and social interests, Australia ‘reviewed and reformed’ its tax legislation. Fullarton studies that transformation.

Fullarton’s examination considers the oldest of tax planning entities—the British Trust (‘received‘ in Australia at colonisation)—, the introduction of Australia’s ‘reformed‘ consumption tax—its VAT, referred to as Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Australia—, an analysis of tax avoidance schemes, and finally government taxation reform activities over the century.

Fullarton notes that, just one year into a new century of taxation, the Australian Federal Government put forward a proposal to go forward to the past by repealing certain sections of the Income Tax Assessment Act and transferring Income Taxing powers back to the Australian States, a position which existed prior to 1936.

This book looks at how Australia’s tax legislation was grounded, added to, avoided, and evolved, until it went ‘Back to the Future’. It is a collection of studies compiled from a rich mosaic of experience and research conducted over 20 years of involvement in taxation law in rural and remote Australia.

Lex Fullarton is a descendent of British Colonists of Western Australia. His family arrived in the Gascoyne region in the early 1880s and he is a native of Carnarvon, WA. He was a real estate agent/tax-practitioner/public accountant for over 20 years. He is, in fact, the proverbial “bush lawyer”. Currently, he is Adjunct Professor at the Curtin Law School, Curtin University, in Western Australia.