Hogan facing huge tax bill

Paul Hogan. Photo / Supplied

SYDNEY: The Australian Taxation Office has accused actor Paul Hogan of evading tax on A$37.6 million ($47.1 million) of undeclared income.

The office has also told Hogan it considers him an Australian for tax purposes, despite the Crocodile Dundee star having lived and paid taxes in the US for a number of years.

The tax bill is the first punitive action taken against Hogan by the tax office, which with the Australian Crime Commission has been pursuing the actor as part of a tax probe into the use of offshore accounts.

The size of the bill is not known but if Hogan is assessed at the highest marginal rate of 40 per cent, the tax office is likely to have demanded a base payment of A$15 million, as well as interest charges from the date the tax was due, and additional penalties that could be as high as 75 per cent of the base bill.

According to documents obtained by the Weekend Australian, the tax office has told Hogan it is considering him an Australian resident for tax purposes for the years 1987 to 2005. During eight of those years - from 1995 to 2002 - Hogan paid tax in the US, where he now lives permanently. From 2002 to 2005, Hogan lived in Australia.

Hogan's artistic collaborator John Cornell and the pair's financial adviser Tony Stewart have been accused in the Federal Court of lodging tax returns that contain "false and misleading statements".

The crime commission alleges the statements were made to avoid their tax obligations and to "evade paying income tax in Australia".

Hogan, Cornell and Stewart have denied any wrongdoing in relation to their tax affairs.

- AAP