The ATO is stepping up its campaign against tax evaders using offshore accounts.

The Australian Taxation Office yesterday visited seven advisor firms it said are linked to offshore arrangements and contacted more than 100 parents using overseas bank accounts to pay for school fees, as it strengthens efforts against tax evasion.

The latest developments, the ATO said, are part of a “new wave of action” to combat offshore evasion. So far, the ATO has acquired more than 5000 client names from wealth management firms and compiled a list of 100 advisors and promoters operating globally that have a direct link with people who may have evaded taxes. These efforts follow the ATO’s offshore disclosure initiative, called "Project DO IT: disclosure offshore income today". Under the project, more than 5,800 Australians have brought A$600 million ($432.8 million) in offshore income and A$5.4 billion in assets back into the Australian economy.

During 2014 and 2015 the ATO engaged in 519 exchanges of information, resulting in total tax liabilities of $255 million ($183.9 million).

Such anti-offshore moves find an echo in other countries. For example, the UK government has proposed a strict liability rule on advisors whose clients are found guilty of evading tax, meaning that an advisor can be punished even if they had no knowledge their client intended to do wrong. Meanwhile, through multinational accords such as the Common Reporting Standard and automatic exchange of information pacts, governments are seeking to crack down on persons who use offshore locations to hide money.

“The net is closing for people who think they can avoid their Australian tax obligations by holding money and assets offshore,” said the ATO's deputy commissioner, Michael Cranston.

“The intelligence picture we now have has been built from information taxpayers disclosed under Project DO IT about the advisor who put them into the offshore arrangements, data mining and client records seized from advisors in transit,” Cranston continued.

“We’ll be visiting Australian advisors, including tax agents, legal advisors, financial institutions and stockbrokers to obtain their full client lists and identify those who have failed to come forward and clean up their tax arrangements under Project DO IT,” he said. 

The school fees involved information obtained from about 60 private schools around Australia, showing parents who have had school fees paid from an offshore account or related offshore entity, Cranston said. “We’ve checked this information against income tax returns and will follow up discrepancies with about 100 parents who may have failed to declare their offshore interests,” he said.