EnglishLady
Veteran Expediter
The Telegraph Jan 7
Paul Hogan, star of ‘Crocodile Dundee’ is planning to sue the Australian government for over £50 million for damaging his reputation in a tax investigation.
Australian actor Mr Hogan, 71, rose to world fame after he appeared in the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee, which became one of Australia's most successful films of all time.
After the Australian Crime Commission became suspicious that he was using offshore tax havens to conceal his wealth, however, he was subjected to a five-year tax investigation which was only dropped last November.
Now, Mr Hogan's lawyer Andrew Robinson has told Australian media company Fairfax Media that his client is planning to sue the Australian government for up to $80 million (£51 million) for loss of earnings.
''His earning potential and reputation has been decimated in the international community and it has had that level of effect on his position,'' he said.
Last August, the actor, who lives in Los Angeles with his Crocodile Dundee co-star Linda Kozlowski, returned to Australia for his mother’s funeral, and was barred by the Australian Taxation Office from leaving the country until he paid a multimillion dollar tax bill. He was not granted leave to return to the US until several weeks later
According to reports in the Australian media, two senior figures in the film industry will give evidence that the actor lost as much as $15 million (£9.6 million) a year during Operation Wickenby, a long-running investigation into the abuse of offshore financial centres by wealthy Australians.
Hogan has previously said that he paid “plenty of tax” in Australia
Paul Hogan, star of ‘Crocodile Dundee’ is planning to sue the Australian government for over £50 million for damaging his reputation in a tax investigation.
Australian actor Mr Hogan, 71, rose to world fame after he appeared in the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee, which became one of Australia's most successful films of all time.
After the Australian Crime Commission became suspicious that he was using offshore tax havens to conceal his wealth, however, he was subjected to a five-year tax investigation which was only dropped last November.
Now, Mr Hogan's lawyer Andrew Robinson has told Australian media company Fairfax Media that his client is planning to sue the Australian government for up to $80 million (£51 million) for loss of earnings.
''His earning potential and reputation has been decimated in the international community and it has had that level of effect on his position,'' he said.
Last August, the actor, who lives in Los Angeles with his Crocodile Dundee co-star Linda Kozlowski, returned to Australia for his mother’s funeral, and was barred by the Australian Taxation Office from leaving the country until he paid a multimillion dollar tax bill. He was not granted leave to return to the US until several weeks later
According to reports in the Australian media, two senior figures in the film industry will give evidence that the actor lost as much as $15 million (£9.6 million) a year during Operation Wickenby, a long-running investigation into the abuse of offshore financial centres by wealthy Australians.
Hogan has previously said that he paid “plenty of tax” in Australia