Dick Smith says he'll 'do a Kerry' on tax

DICK Smith, who every year gives $1 million to charity and pays more than $1 million in tax, has threatened to "do a Kerry Packer" and become a massive tax minimiser.

The famed philanthropist, aerial adventurer and face of a thousand Dick Smith brands has told the Australian Tax Office he is considering becoming the "greatest legal tax minimiser in the history of Australia".

An angry Mr Smith has protested directly in a letter to tax commissioner Michael D'Ascenzo about a billion-dollar bureaucratic bungle, after receiving advice from the tax office that he would be subjected to closer scrutiny, The Australian reports.

Mr D'Ascenzo sent a letter and brochure to Mr Smith, as someone who "effectively controls $30 million or more in net wealth", about the ATO building "an open and co-operative working relationship" with him and his tax advisers.

The letter said that "given your position of influence in the community, it is important that you don't take unacceptable risks when it comes to tax". It also warned that, as part of a long-term crackdown on wealthy Australians, "our scrutiny of your tax affairs and the assistance we can provide may greatly increase".

The commissioner's letter, headed "Wealthy and wise - A tax guide for Australia's wealthiest people", and the brochure called "Wealthy Australians and tax compliance", prompted the threat from Mr Smith to change his attitude to paying tax.

"In the past, I have been proud to pay a lot of tax - even if more than that required by law - because I have received great satisfaction from knowing that I'm paying for some of the great things we have in Australia," Mr Smith said in a letter to Mr D'Ascenzo. "That view has now changed."

Mr Smith cited the words in 1991 of the late Packer, once Australia's richest man, that "if anybody in this country doesn't minimise their tax, they want their heads read".

ninemsn 21 Jun 2008

Comments on this story posted (allowed to be published) say it all :

GO Dick Smith. While I believe in paying taxes, this sort of condensending little "ATO project" dreamed up by some mediocre bureaucrat is just a way of punishing people who've been successful, smart and become wealthy. When they finish taking their foot out of their mouths - they'll realise that the ATO has very little right to share in the rewards of people who have become successful by taking all the risk. Unless the ATO or the banks of the nation are willing to share in the downside of business, then anyone experiencing the upside has the right to minimise tax legally and tell the ATO to mind their own business.

Posted by: notweathly of Adelaide 8:25pm today