Gazette notice: Commissioner of Taxation – Notice of a data-matching program
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will acquire data from insurance policies for the following assets where the value is equal to or exceeds nominated thresholds.
Asset value thresholds
Asset class | Asset value threshold |
Marine vessels | $100,000 |
Motor vehicles | $65,000 |
Thoroughbred horses | $65,000 |
Fine art | $100,000 per item |
Aircraft | $150,000 |
The data to be collected under notice, for 2015–16 through to 2019–20, includes:
■ policy holder identification details (names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, etc)
■ insurance policy details (policy number, start and end date, asset insured, physical location of the asset, etc).
We estimate that records relating to approximately 350,000 individuals will be obtained each financial year.
The data will be acquired and matched to improve our risk profiling of taxpayers and provide a holistic view of assets and accumulated wealth. The purpose of this program is to ensure that taxpayers are correctly meeting their tax and superannuation obligations in relation to asset transactions and ownership. 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
■ assist with profiling to provide compliance staff with a holistic view of a taxpayer’s wealth
■ identify possible compliance issues with income tax, capital gains tax, fringe benefits tax, goods and services tax and superannuation obligations
■ determine avenues available to assist in debt management activities
■ gain insights from the data to help to develop and implement treatment strategies to improve voluntary compliance; which may include educational or compliance activities as appropriate
■ identify and educate those individuals and businesses who may be failing to meet their registration and/or lodgment obligations and assist them to comply
■ help ensure that individuals and businesses are fulfilling their tax and superannuation reporting 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.