Exiled Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo will be forced to disclose his worldwide assets to the Tax Office within weeks after he lost a legal bid to halt a Federal Court disclosure order taking effect.
The Tax Office is pursuing Mr Huang, a central figure in the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption's inquiry into Labor donations, for $140.9 million in allegedly unpaid tax and penalties.
Huang Xiangmo must disclose his worldwide assets to the ATO by November 11.Credit: Ryan Stuart
The Tax Office succeeded last month in persuading the Federal Court to grant an urgent order freezing his assets including a $13 million Mosman mansion in his wife Jiefang's name, two properties in Chatswood and an apartment in Hong Kong.
On Monday, Federal Court Justice Jayne Jagot continued the freezing order and declined to remove from its scope the property in Mrs Huang's name and the Hong Kong apartment.
Justice Jagot also ordered Mr Huang to disclose his worldwide assets to the Tax Office by November 11.
Mr Huang did not object to disclosing his Australian assets, which are believed to be insufficient to satisfy the tax debt, but has resisted calls to disclose his asset holdings offshore.
Lawyers for Mr Huang appeared in the Federal Court in Sydney on Thursday, seeking a temporary stay to stop the disclosure order taking effect pending an appeal against the decision.
Justice Jagot declined to grant the stay, citing the "absence of irretrievable prejudice" to Mr Huang if the order took effect immediately.
Lawyers for Mr Huang had raised questions about whether the Tax Office might seek to use the information to launch a fresh investigation into the billionaire developer, or provide it to offshore revenue agencies.
But Justice Jagot said the Tax Office had confirmed it was bound by the standard undertaking that prevented the information being used "for any other purpose other than this proceeding".
Mr Huang has resided in Hong Kong since his Australian permanent residency visa was cancelled on December 5 for reasons including character grounds.
In an extraordinary statement published on his personal website on Wednesday, Mr Huang accused the Tax Office of being a "despicable tool of political persecution" and disputed that he was liable to pay the "sensationally high" tax bill.
Exiled Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo and, inset, part of the statement he posted on his website on Wednesday.Credit: Ryan Stuart/huangxiangmo.com
The ICAC is investigating allegations Mr Huang made a $100,000 cash donation to the NSW Labor Party in 2015.
Mr Huang, who is banned from making political donations in NSW under laws targeting property developers, has declined to give evidence to the ICAC but denied making the donation.
The parties return to court on December 6.