Is this true?

[want2bewealthy]

I remember hearing that if you keep money in an IO offset account, the tax department dont know its there,
Is this really true? I would have thought that the ATO are able to acess all records as this could be a potential black spot.

[Les]

G'day W2BW,
I remember hearing that if you keep money in an IO offset account, the tax department dont know its there,
Is this really true? I would have thought that the ATO are able to acess all records as this could be a potential black spot.
And I would've thought, that if you are claiming LESS Tax deductions (as you are paying less Interest because of the Offset) that the ATO wouldn't mind at all :D

Regards,

[Mry]

The ATO gets a report from the banks on the interest earned on accounts and TFNs so they can cross check interest earned with your tax returns. They don't have their claws into bank accounts to see all your transactions at any time.

They are aware of these accounts, but since they don't earn interest they probably don't care.