The Australian Taxation Office will seek information from the nation's banks to catch tax dodgers using offshore accounts.
The information will be used to identify Australian taxpayers who may have undisclosed offshore income or have over-claimed deductions involving international transactions.
Tax commissioner Michael D'Ascenzo said the bank data will be matched against ATO information to identify people who may not have met their lodgement and payment obligations.
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The information relates to the period July 1, 2005 to June 20, 2009, he said in a statement on Wednesday.
"There is nothing wrong with holding an offshore account or investing overseas as long as you pay any Australian tax due," Mr D'Ascenzo said.
Reducing penalties for coming forward
"Our aim is to identify people who may be deliberately trying to hide income or assets offshore."
Reduced penalties are available for people who volunteer declarations of undisclosed offshore income or over-claimed deductions involving international transactions until the end of June.
They can also approach the tax office anonymously for an indication as to whether it would undertake an investigation to determine if there is any potential breach of the criminal law in their case.
"People who choose not to come forward run the risk of being audited in the future, in which case the penalties would be much higher," Mr D'Ascenzo said.
"As we get access to more and more intelligence on offshore transactions, I urge people to come to us before we come to them."
