Crocodile Dundee Snaps at Aussie Tax Officials

Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan lashed out at Australian tax authorities after he was barred from leaving the country until he settles a multimillion-dollar tax debt.

The 70-year-old actor was served with a departure prohibition order last month after he flew to his native country to attend his 101-year-old mother Florence’s funeral from his home in California (see Crocodile Dundee Star Held by Aussie Tax Officials). He has been fighting Australian authorities for five years in U.S. and Australian courts over the taxes, which Australian authorities claim on approximately $38 million in income that they say he stashed in off-shore tax havens. Hogan has denied the allegations.

Hogan blasted the Australian Tax Office during a TV interview broadcast Tuesday on the Nine Network’s “A Current Affair.”

“I can’t pay 10 percent of what they’re asking … bugger ’em,” he said, according to Reuters.

“If I was a tax evader, which I’m not, I must be the dumbest one in the world to keep coming back here instead of fleeing to a tax haven,” he added. “I know they’re absolutely desperate to nail some high-profile character with money to justify the expense to the taxpayer.”

Hogan claimed that he has already paid Australia more than his fair share of taxes. “I’ve paid more than a wise businessman would have,” he said. “I don’t have and never had the money people think I got … and it’s none of their business.”