More than $600,000 has been reclaimed by the ATO from ACT residents charged with tax-related offences since last July, marking one of the busiest financial years for prosecutions.
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Between July 2016 and the end of May this year, the ATO made 47 successful prosecutions, more than double the previous financial year.
The number of prosecutions against people in the ACT in the past year was the highest in five years.
Ten Canberra businesses were successfully charged in 2016-17, while the other 37 offences were against individuals.
Seven of the offences were prosecuted for fraud under the criminal code, with the tax office recouping more than $560,000 in reparations.
A further $117,000 was recouped in fines relating to 40 charges laid under the taxation administration act, such as failing to lodge a tax return, failing to attend interviews, or providing false or misleading statements.
By comparison, there were 19 prosecutions made by the ATO in 2015-16, with four of those cases for fraud, and three being made against companies.
The tax office made 16 prosecutions in the ACT in 2014-15, 31 in 2013-14 and 38 in 2012-13.
However, in those three financial years, no prosecutions were made under the criminal code.
The amount recouped by the tax office from prosecutions made against ACT citizens in 2016-17 is greater than the amount recouped in the previous four financial years combined.
More than $278,000 was recovered in fines in the 2015-16 financial year, followed by $20,000, $126,000 and $107,000 in 2015-14, 2014-13 and 2013-12 respectively.
Despite the spike in successful prosecutions a spokesman for the ATO said there was no overarching reason for the increase.
"While we have increased our activities in 2016-17, they are not substantially different to preceding years," the spokesman said.
"Due to the small size of the ACT and the variable rate in prosecutions, there are not any strong trends that can be identified or casual links that can be made."
The spokesman said the most common offence prosecuted by the ATO was failure to lodge forms such as tax returns and business activity statements.
Out of the seven tax offences in the ACT in 2016-17 that were charged under the criminal code, all ended in convictions, with six resulting in custodial sentences and the other being a good behaviour bond.
In the same time period, 41 cases of non-criminal code related offences were brought before the courts, resulting in 40 convictions.
Of those 40 convictions, 34 were fined, three were given good behaviour bonds and one was given a community service order.
The ATO spokesman said the data shows the number of successful convictions, rather than the number of charges laid.
"We mainly prosecute individuals, both as individuals as well as director of company, partner in a partnership or trustee of a trust," the spokesman said.
"The ATO sets its tax crime priorities each year and decisions to prosecute are made within the context of the ATO's strategic goals."
