In The Artful Aussie Tax Dodger Lex Fullarton studies the impact of 100 years of taxation
legislation in Australia 1915-2016. He finds that despite the lessons of a century of actions
and reactions of taxpayers and administrators little changes-despite entering a new century old
habits are hard to break. At Federation on January 1 1901 the Commonwealth of Australia was
empowered to impose income tax on its citizens. However it was not until September 3 1915
that it began a century of 'tax reform' when its first Income Tax Assessment Act was
introduced. For 100 years driven by the winds of various political and social interests
Australia 'reviewed and reformed' its tax legislation. Fullarton studies that transformation.
Fullarton's examination considers the oldest of tax planning entities-the British Trust
('received' in Australia at colonisation)- the introduction of Australia's 'reformed'
consumption tax-its VAT referred to as Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Australia- an analysis
of tax avoidance schemes and finally government taxation reform activities over the century.
Fullarton notes that just one year into a new century of taxation the Australian Federal
Government put forward a proposal to go forward to the past by repealing certain sections of
the Income Tax Assessment Act and transferring Income Taxing powers back to the Australian
States a position which existed prior to 1936. This book looks at how Australia's tax
legislation was grounded added to avoided and evolved until it went 'Back to the Future'.
It is a collection of studies compiled from a rich mosaic of experience and research conducted
over 20 years of involvement in taxation law in rural and remote Australia.
