When Is A Gift Not A Gift?

The Tax Commissioner has successfully argued that more than $1.6m deposited in a couple’s bank account was assessable income, not a gift or a loan from friends.

The case of Rusanova and Commissioner of Taxation is enough for a telemovie. The plot features an Australian resident Russian couple ‘gifted’ over $1.6m in unexplained bank deposits, over $67,000 in interest, the Russian father-in-law seafood exporter, a series of Australian companies, and the generous friend loaning money in $20,000 tranches.

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