Ban on tax cheat tool

COMPANIES that make, use or supply tax-dodging software will face severe penalties after laws to crack down on the black economy were rubberstamped in Federal Parliament.

The legislation was given the tick yesterday, meaning people found to be creating or distributing the software will face fines of more than $1 million, while those using it could be stung more than $100,000.

“Zapper” software allows businesses to delete transactions from point of sales systems to avoid tax.