Gazette notice: Commissioner of Taxation - Notice of a data-matching program
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will acquire ride sourcing data to identify individuals that may be engaged in providing ride sourcing services during the 2019-20 to 2021-22 financial years. The data items include:
■ identification details - driver identifier; Australian Business Number (ABN); driver name; birth date; mobile phone number; email address; address
■ transaction details - bank account details; aggregated payment details (gross fares, net amount paid to driver, and all other income to which Goods and Services Tax may or may not apply to) of all payments received in the relevant period.
■ We estimate that records relating to approximately 250,000 individuals will be obtained each financial year.
The data will be acquired and matched to with certain sections of ATO data holdings to identify taxpayers that can be provided with tailored information to help them meet their tax and superannuation obligations, or to ensure compliance with taxation law. These obligations may include registration, lodgment, reporting and payment responsibilities.
The objectives of this program are to:
■ promote voluntary compliance and increase community confidence in the integrity of the tax and superannuation systems
■ identify and educate individuals who may be failing to meet their registration and/or lodgment obligations and assist them to comply
■ gain insights from the data that may help us to develop and implement engagement strategies to improve voluntary compliance which include educational or compliance activities as appropriate
■ obtain intelligence to increase the ATO’s understanding of the behaviours and compliance profiles of individuals and businesses that provide ride sourcing services
■ ensure compliance with registration, lodgment, correct reporting and payment of tax and superannuation obligations.
A document describing this program is available at ato.gov.au/dmprotocols.
This program follows the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines on data matching in Australian Government administration (2014) (the guidelines). The guidelines include standards for the use data-matching as an administrative tool in a way that complies with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act), and are consistent with good privacy practice.
A full copy of the ATO’s privacy policy can be accessed at ato.gov.au/privacy.
Overview
The Commissioner of Taxation - Notice of a data-matching program is a notice issued under the Tax Administration Act 1953, which was enacted to streamline and improve the administration of tax laws in Australia. This program, introduced to address the issue of potential non-compliance among individuals engaged in ride sourcing services, aims to enhance voluntary compliance and ensure adherence to tax and superannuation obligations. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will obtain ride sourcing data for the 2019-20 to 2021-22 financial years, covering approximately 250,000 individuals annually. This data will be matched with ATO records to identify taxpayers who may need assistance in meeting their obligations, including registration, lodgment, and payment responsibilities. The overarching policy objective of this program is to promote voluntary compliance, increase community confidence in the tax system, and ensure that all taxpayers, particularly those in ride sourcing services, meet their tax and superannuation obligations.
Scope and Application
The Australian Taxation Office's data-matching program outlined in the gazette notice C2020G00249 targets individuals potentially involved in providing ride-sourcing services during the specified financial years. This program involves acquiring and analysing ride-sourcing data, including identification details and transaction specifics, from approximately 250,000 individuals annually. The data matching aims to identify and assist those who might be non-compliant with their tax and superannuation obligations, thereby promoting voluntary compliance and enhancing community confidence in the integrity of the tax system. The program also seeks to improve the ATO's understanding of ride-sourcing service providers' behaviours and compliance profiles, ensuring adherence to registration, reporting, and payment requirements. This initiative adheres to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's guidelines on data matching, ensuring compliance with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles.
Key Provisions
The primary operative sections of this notice (C2020G00249) pertain to the acquisition and matching of ride sourcing data by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) (section 1). This data will be used to identify individuals potentially engaged in providing ride sourcing services over the 2019-20 to 2021-22 financial years, and encompasses various identification and transaction details (section 1). The ATO will match this data against its existing records to identify taxpayers for whom tailored information will be provided to help them meet their tax and superannuation obligations, or to ensure compliance with taxation laws (section 1). The data-matching program aims to promote voluntary compliance, assist individuals in meeting their registration and lodgment obligations, and enhance the ATO's understanding of the behaviours and compliance profiles of ride sourcing service providers (section 1).
The ATO, as the governing entity, is obligated to acquire and match the specified ride sourcing data with its existing data holdings (section 1). The ATO must ensure that this data-matching program complies with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines on data matching in Australian Government administration (2014), which are designed to adhere to the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the Privacy Act 1988 (section 1). Furthermore, the ATO must use the insights gained from this program to develop and implement engagement strategies aimed at improving voluntary compliance, including educational and compliance activities as appropriate (section 1). The ATO must also ensure that any use of personal information complies with its privacy policy, which can be accessed at ato.gov.au/privacy (section 1).
Under this program, any breach of the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) or the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) may result in civil or criminal consequences (section 1). The Privacy Act provides for various penalties for breaches, including significant fines for serious or repeated breaches. The maximum civil penalty for a contravention of the Privacy Act is $2.1 million for corporations and $210,000 for individuals, as stipulated in section 13G of the Act (section 1). Additionally, criminal penalties may apply for certain breaches, with maximum penalties including fines of up to $420,000 for corporations and $42,000 for individuals, as well as imprisonment for up to two years (section 1). It is important that the ATO adheres strictly to the guidelines and legal requirements to avoid any potential breaches and their associated consequences.