The Australian government has so far obtained A$180 million ($158.5 million) and over A$1 billion in assets as part of a tax amnesty.

The Australian government has so far obtained disclosures of A$180 million ($158.5 million) in undeclared income and over A$1 billion in assets as part of a tax amnesty.

The Australian Tax Office said in a statement that close to 1500 taxpayers have already made the decision to clean up their tax affairs and bring income and assets back into the Australian tax system.

“So far we’ve had disclosures of more than $180 million in previously unreported offshore income and over A$1 billion in assets,” said deputy commissioner Michael Cranston.

The amnesty, called Project DO IT, aims to give those with undisclosed offshore income and assets the chance to come clean and will run until 19 December.

Those who come forward before the deadline will only be assessed for the last four years, be liable for a maximum shortfall penalty of 10 per cent, and will not be referred for criminal investigation.

“What we’re seeing is people waking up to the fact that it doesn’t make sense anymore to hide assets and income offshore - recent developments in exchange of information between countries and improved data matching capability mean there’s nowhere left to hide,” said Cranston.

Offshore tax evasion remains a problem for countries and jurisdictions worldwide seeking to plug large budget shortfalls. Following the global financial crisis, governments across the globe have made it a key priority to increase transparency and crack down on tax evasion and secrecy.