“Not a victimless crime”: Mildura man jailed for seven years over ATO TikTok GST scam

A Mildura man has just been sentenced to 7.5 years in prison over his involvement in the ‘TikTok GST scam‘ that has been circulating since 2020.

According to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the man lodged false business statements which resulted in receiving $837,437 in GST refunds.

The accused pled guilty to two counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception, and one count each of attempting to obtain financial advantage by deception and dealing with proceeds of crime.

The total sentence time was set at seven years and six months, with a non-parole period of five years.

What is the TikTok GST scam?

The way this particular scam works is by obtaining an Australian Business Number (ABN) for a fake business and submitting falsified business activity statements through MyGov to receive GST refunds.

While it didn’t originate on TikTok, the platform helped the scam gain popularity.

It was first noticed by some banks in late 2020 due to the large number of transactions that involved substantial business payouts from the ATO.

However, it wasn’t until 2022 that the ATO, alongside the Australian Federal Police (AFP) launched Operation Protego to investigate the scam and attempt to recover the funds.

While it was originally believed that $850 million had been paid out in the scam, this number has risen a few times since then. Most recently, it was revealed that over $1.6 billion was paid out to people who made false GST claims.

According to the AFP and ATO, Operation Protego has stopped $2.7 billion in fake GST refunds as of June 2023. It’s also led to 100 arrests, with compliance action taken against 56,000 people.

“This outcome clearly demonstrates that those who steal funds from the community that would otherwise be used for essential services, will face the full force of the law,” ATO deputy commissioner John Ford said in a statement about the Mildura sentencing.

“GST fraud is not a victimless crime, and we continue to work closely with state and federal law enforcement agencies to bring offenders to account. Our work with Mildura police has been especially effective in curbing widespread fraud in a local area.”

“Our message is clear — if you don’t run a legitimate business, you cannot claim GST refunds”, said Ford.