Note: the ATO is not actually keeping Paul Hogan locked in a small room

Photo © 2004 AAP Image/Dean Lewins

Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan zipped into Australia for his mother’s funeral last week, but is now being held captive over an ongoing dispute with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

The actor, a former Australian of the Year, lives in Los Angeles but returned to Sydney for the funeral of his 101-year-old mother Flo, last Friday. The night before the funeral, the ATO issued a Departure Prohibition Order, barring him from leaving the country.

Hogan, 70, has been the subject of a five-year investigation by authorities into the use of offshore tax havens, but he has always denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any criminal offences.

The ATO upped the ante in its fight with Hogan on July 14 when it hit him with an amended tax bill on $37.6 million of allegedly undeclared income.

His lawyer, Andrew Robinson, last night slammed the ATO’s move, saying “he is stunned and very disappointed that the Government could treat him as a flight risk.” He adds, "Imagine on the night before you bury your mother for this to happen."

The case against Hogan centres on tax records between 2002-05 when the actor was at various times "stateless" for tax purposes, while receiving multi-million dollar payments in royalties and film fees.

Paul Hogan's wife, US actress Linda Kozlowski, and 12-year-old son, Chance, are "devastated beyond belief" that the star has been stopped from leaving Australia until he pays a multi-million-dollar tax bill.