E&Y behind Crocodile Dundee star's tax advice
E&Y provided tax advice to Crocodile Dundee star who has been targeted for tax evasion
Documents released at the order of the Federal Australian Court reveal Big
Four firm
Ernst
& Young was a major provider of tax and legal advice to Crocodile Dundee
star Paul Hogan and his tax adviser Tony Stewart in a ‘sham’ to evade tax,
according to allegations by the
Australian Crime
Commission (ACC).
The documents reveal the ACC alleges ‘a scheme or conspiracy’ between Hogan
and Stewart to produce ‘sham’ travel movements aimed at allowing money to be
paid to Hogan when he ‘was not a tax resident of any country and therefore the
payment was free of tax’, according to the Melbourne paper The Age.
At this stage, neither Hogan nor Stewart has been charged. Their lawyers’ bid
so far has focussed on gaining access to documents accumulated by the commission
as part of the Australian Tax Office’s Wickenby probe into tax fraud and
evasion.
‘We are confident that all of the work undertaken by E&Y would not be a
matter for Project Wickenby,’ an E&Y spokesman told The Age.
Further reading:
Crocodile Dundee actor ready to confront Oz taxman
Crocodile Dundee actor challenges Oz taxman