The Australian Taxation Office received 250,000 tip-offs from the community about tax avoidance and other dishonest behaviours since July 1, 2019.

More than 47,000 tip-offs were reported in the 2023–24 financial year alone.

ATO Assistant Commissioner Tony Goding said Australians are fed up with dodgy behaviours in the community and are stepping up to help level the playing field by tipping off the ATO about taxpayers not declaring income, demanding cash from customers, paying workers in cash to avoid paying tax and super, not reporting sales, and where someone’s lifestyle doesn’t appear to match their income.

The ATO estimates there is around $16 billion in stolen taxes because of businesses doing things like cash jobs each year.

Building and construction, cafes and restaurants and hairdressing and beauty services topped the list of industries the ATO was tipped off about in 2023–24.

Ninety per cent of tip-offs analysed by the ATO in 2023 24 were deemed as being suitable for further investigation by a specialised teams and task forces within the ATO, including the cross agency Shadow Economy Taskforce.