Top 15 illegal tax-saving strategies – what every accountant should Know!

As accountants, we’re trusted to help clients reduce tax legally. But there’s a fine line – and some go way over it.

The ATO estimates 1.6 million businesses are part of Australia’s illegal cash economy. And that’s just the beginning.

Here are just a few of the 15 most common illegal tax strategies:

• Paying or receiving undeclared cash wages
• Not reporting capital gains, rental income, or overseas income
• Claiming personal holidays or mortgage repayments as business expenses
• Filing false early tax returns and vanishing overseas
• Setting up bogus businesses to scam GST
• Profit shifting and treaty shopping using offshore entities

These aren’t just audit risks, they’re criminal offences.

At TaxFitness, we help accountants deliver powerful tax planning advice the right way – staying legal, ethical, and compliant:

• Benchmark against the Top 20% of businesses
•  Identify legal tax-saving strategies across 600+ options
• Build trust and long-term client value

Chapter 15 of our benchmarking manual is titled: Keep Everything Legal. Because the best accountants don’t just save tax – they protect their clients, their firm, and their professional reputation.

Try our tax planning software for free.