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The story of the bureaucratic cat-and-mouse, legal escalation and especially the part where PHR declares war on Australia cracks me up every time. The PHR doe
by xyzzy123 13y ago
The story of the bureaucratic cat-and-mouse, legal escalation and especially the part where PHR declares war on Australia cracks me up every time.
The PHR doesn't pay taxes to the ATO; that seems like quite an achievement for a micronation. I think it genuinely qualifies as more than just "a bit of showmanship".
I'd like to believe that the reason they're left alone is not just because of the legal hassle, but because someone in the Australian government had a sense of humour.
- jacques_chester 13y ago> The PHR doesn't pay taxes to the ATO I can't find a source for this other than claims made by the promoters. The ATO clearly consider Hutt River to be a scam[1]. Sending income tax returns of the form "I earned $0" doesn't mean you've "won". It just means you've committed a Commonwealth crime by lying on your tax form. Plus they pay GST anyhow. [1] http://www.ato.gov.au/atp/content.aspx?doc=/content/62019.htm http://www.ato.gov.au/atp/content.aspx?doc=/content/62019.ht...
- xyzzy123 13y agoYou're right, the the references to PHR residents being classed as "non residents of Australia for tax purposes" are derived from assertions made by... the PHR. On the other hand, it really does seem like the government are happy to leave them alone as long as people don't try to "take the piss" and turn it into wide-scale tax avoidance scheme.
- jacques_chester 13y agoIf it ever spread, I imagine the ATO would crush it like the fist of an angry god. They have enormous powers of investigation, assessment and judgement. Plus it's passed into folk legend. It'd be bad politics to stamp on it. I imagine that they're waiting for the owners to die or sell up and they'll collect their pound of flesh from the estate.