NSW Office of State Revenue identifies fraudulent driving offence claims

NSW commissioner for Fines Administration Tony Newbury said it was an offence to falsely nominate another person for a driving offence or to knowingly accept responsibility for driving offences you did not commit.

"The NSW Office of State Revenue (OSR) reviews driver nominations to identify potential fraudulent declarations," he said.

"When a doubtful nomination is discovered, OSR conducts thorough investigations.

"These include checking nominations against all available evidence, for example photographs taken at the time of the offence."

Mr Newbury said OSR also checked Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) records to verify if the nominated driver held a valid licence and immigration records to confirm nominated drivers who held international licences were actually in Australia at the time of the offence.

"People who falsely nominate another person for a driving offence or who accept responsibility for a driving offence they did not commit may end up with a hefty fine from OSR, or they may end up before a court and ultimately with a criminal record," he sad.

The penalty amounts for fines issued by OSR for either falsely nominating or failing to nominate are $623 for individuals and $1315 for corporations ($3526 for second or subsequent failure to nominate offences by corporations).

The maximum penalty that can be handed down by a magistrate for offences relating to falsely nominating is a jail sentence of up to five years plus fines of up to $5500 for individuals and $11,000 for companies.

In addition, the magistrate can disqualify a person from holding a driver's licence for any period seen fit.