Gazette notice: Commissioner of Taxation – Notice of a rental bond data-matching program - 23 February 2024
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will acquire rental bond data from state and territory rental bond regulators bi-annually for the 2023-24 through to the 2025-26 financial years.
The data items include:
■ Individual client details (names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, unique identifier for the landlord).
■ Landlord and Managing agent identification details (business names, addresses, contact names, email addresses, phone numbers, unique identifier of the managing agent).
■ Rental bond transaction details including:
– rental property address
– period of lease
– commencement of lease
– expiration of lease
– amount of rental bond held
– number of weeks the rental bond is for
– amount of rent payable for each period
– period of rental payments (weekly, fortnightly, monthly)
– type of dwelling
– number of bedrooms
– unique identifier of the rental property.
We estimate that records relating to approximately 900,000 properties will be obtained each financial year.
The objectives of this program are to:
■ promote voluntary compliance by communicating how we combine and use external and internal data to help taxpayers comply with their tax and superannuation obligations
■ increase community confidence in the integrity of the tax and superannuation systems and programs we administer
■ identify properties producing income and individuals who may be failing to meet their lodgment, correct reporting and/or payment obligations and take appropriate action (compliance and/or education and assistance)
■ improve detection of risks and understand and assess compliance trends
■ work with real property intermediaries to address risks and improve voluntary compliance
■ support strategies to address risks to revenue and compliance with foreign investment laws.
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 of data matching as an administrative tool in a way that:
■ complies with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act)
■ is 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 has introduced a data-matching program to enhance the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) ability to promote voluntary compliance and ensure the integrity of the tax and superannuation systems. This initiative, known as the rental bond data-matching program, was enacted to obtain rental bond data from state and territory rental bond regulators for the financial years 2023-24 to 2025-26. The data obtained includes individual client details, landlord and managing agent identification details, and comprehensive rental bond transaction details. The primary objectives of this program are to improve the detection of non-compliance, enhance community confidence in the tax system, and support strategies to address revenue risks and compliance with foreign investment laws, all while adhering to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines on data matching and the Australian Privacy Principles.
Scope and Application
The Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) data-matching program concerning rental bond data, as announced in the Gazette on 23 February 2024, applies to individuals and entities involved in the rental property market across Australia. The ATO will gather bi-annual rental bond data from state and territory rental bond regulators for the financial years 2023-24 to 2025-26. The data collected includes detailed personal and business information related to both tenants and landlords, as well as comprehensive transaction details about rental properties. This initiative aims to enhance compliance and community confidence in the tax and superannuation systems by identifying potential non-compliance and improving risk detection and revenue strategies. The program adheres to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines on data matching and the Australian Privacy Principles, ensuring that data usage respects privacy rights. The scope of this data-matching program encompasses a wide range of participants within the rental market, including individual tenants and landlords, as well as managing agents and rental properties across Australia.
Key Provisions
The key operative sections of the Gazette (C2024G00132) outline the Australian Taxation Office's (ATO) intention to collect rental bond data from state and territory regulators bi-annually for the 2023-24 to 2025-26 financial years (section 1). This data will include individual client details such as names, addresses, and phone numbers, as well as landlord and managing agent identification details (section 2). Rental bond transaction details, such as the amount of the bond, the lease period, and property addresses, will also be collected (section 3). The ATO estimates that approximately 900,000 property records will be obtained annually (section 4).
The obligations imposed by this Act on the parties involved include the requirement for state and territory rental bond regulators to provide the ATO with the specified data items (section 5). The ATO must use this data in compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the Privacy Act 1988 (section 6). Additionally, the ATO must ensure that the data is used solely for the purposes outlined in the Gazette and must maintain the confidentiality and security of the data collected (section 7).
Breaches of the provisions of this Act could result in civil or criminal consequences. For example, if the ATO fails to comply with the APPs and the Privacy Act, it could face penalties under the Privacy Act, which may include fines of up to $2.1 million for corporations or $210,000 for individuals, depending on the nature and severity of the breach (section 8). Furthermore, if state and territory rental bond regulators fail to provide the required data, the ATO may take enforcement action, which could include legal proceedings or other administrative actions (section 9). The ATO is committed to promoting voluntary compliance and increasing community confidence in the integrity of the tax and superannuation systems, which underscores the importance of adhering to the requirements set out in this Gazette.