SYDNEY, Australia — “Crocodile Dundee” star Paul Hogan challenged Australian tax authorities Friday to track him down in the United States after a newspaper report that he was under investigation for tax evasion.
The 68-year-old actor has repeatedly denied that he dodged taxes.
The Australian national newspaper reported that Australian tax authorities had asked for help from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in obtaining Hogan’s banking records. Four companies related to Hogan have been ordered to hand over documents, it said, citing court documents.
“Come and get me,” Hogan said with a grin, He spoke to Australia’s Ten Network television outside his Santa Barbara, Calif. mansion, delivering an obscenity-laced statement addressed to the Australian Taxation Office
Hogan is fighting the IRS involvement, arguing that it is being used to obtain documents that Australian officials could not lawfully obtain, his Australian lawyer David Rydon told the newspaper.
Hogan said he was returning to Australia in September to make a movie.
“I’ll be arrested the minute I land on the shore, of course, but I have a gun; so be warned,” he joked.
Neither Hogan nor his lawyer could be immediately contacted for comment Friday. The Australian tax office does not comment on individual cases.
-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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