Commissioner of Taxation
NOTICE OF A DATA MATCHING PROGRAM
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will request and collect online selling data relating to registrants that sold goods and services of a total value of $10,000 or more for the period from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014.
This acquired data will be electronically matched with certain sections of ATO data holdings to identify possible non-compliance with registration, reporting, lodgment and payment obligations under taxation law.
Data providers are included in the program based on the following principles:
- The data owner or its subsidiary operates a business in Australia that is governed by Australian law
- The data owner provides an online market place for businesses and individuals to buy and sell goods and services
- The data owner tracks the activity of registered sellers
- The data owner has clients whose annual trading activity amounts to $10,000 or more
- The data owner has trading activity for the year in focus
- Where the client base of a data owner does not present an omitted or unreported income risk, or the administrative or financial cost of collecting the data exceeds the benefit the data may provide, the data owner may be excluded from the program.
In accordance with this purpose and the principles listed above data will be sought from eBay Australia & New Zealand Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of eBay International AG which owns and operates www.ebay.com.au.
It is expected that records relating to between 15,000 and 25,000 individuals will be matched.
This program is called the 2014 online selling data matching program and it will enable the ATO to:
- Address the compliance behaviour of individuals and businesses selling goods and services via the online selling site who may not be correctly meeting their taxation obligations, particularly those with undeclared income and incorrect lodgment and reporting for goods and services tax, and
- Be more strategic in its approach to determine appropriate educational and compliance strategies to encourage voluntary compliance for taxpayers in the online selling market to ensure they meet their taxation obligations.
A document describing this program has been prepared and lodged with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. A copy of this document is available at www.ato.gov.au/dmprotocols or by emailing SpecialPurposeDataSteward@ato.gov.au with reference to the online selling data matching program.
The ATO complies with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines on data matching in Australian government administration (2014) which includes standards for data matching to protect the privacy of individuals. A full copy of the ATO’s privacy policy can be assessed at www.ato.gov.au/privacy |
Overview
The 2014 online selling data matching program, enacted in 2014, is an initiative by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to address non-compliance issues among individuals and businesses selling goods and services online. This program was established to tackle the problem of undeclared income and incorrect reporting of goods and services tax among online sellers, particularly those who have transactions exceeding $10,000 in a financial year. The policy objective of this program is to enhance voluntary compliance among online sellers by identifying discrepancies in tax obligations and strategically implementing educational and compliance measures. The program is governed by the principles set forth in the Commissioner of Taxation Notice, which includes criteria for selecting data providers, such as the operation of an online marketplace in Australia, the tracking of seller activity, and the threshold of annual trading activity. The ATO ensures compliance with privacy standards as outlined in the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines on data matching in Australian government administration.
Scope and Application
The 2014 online selling data matching program by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is targeted at entities and individuals operating within Australia who use online marketplaces for selling goods and services. Specifically, the program applies to data owners, such as eBay Australia & New Zealand Pty Ltd, that operate a business in Australia and manage an online marketplace for selling goods and services. The program seeks to collect and match data from sellers who have conducted transactions amounting to $10,000 or more from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014. This data will then be electronically matched with ATO data holdings to identify potential non-compliance with taxation obligations. Entities may be excluded from this program if they do not present a risk of omitted or unreported income or if the costs of data collection outweigh the benefits. The program aims to enhance compliance and encourage voluntary adherence to taxation obligations within the online selling sector, operating within the parameters set by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s guidelines to protect individual privacy.
Key Provisions
The primary sections of the 2014 online selling data matching program (sections 2-6) outline the ATO's intention to request and collect online selling data from eBay Australia & New Zealand Pty Ltd. This data pertains to individuals and businesses that sold goods and services worth $10,000 or more from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014. The collected data will be electronically matched with the ATO's existing data holdings to identify potential non-compliance with registration, reporting, lodgment, and payment obligations under taxation law. This data matching is expected to involve records relating to between 15,000 and 25,000 individuals.
The obligations and requirements imposed by this legislation on the involved parties are significant. eBay Australia & New Zealand Pty Ltd, as a data provider, must comply with the program's principles, which include operating a business in Australia governed by Australian law, providing an online marketplace, tracking the activity of registered sellers, and ensuring that clients' annual trading activity meets the $10,000 threshold. Additionally, eBay must facilitate the data collection process and ensure that the data provided is accurate and relevant. The ATO, on the other hand, must adhere to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines on data matching to protect individual privacy and must make its privacy policy publicly available.
Breaches of this data matching program can result in both civil and criminal consequences. While the specific penalties for non-compliance are not detailed in the text, it is implied that failure to meet the obligations set forth could lead to enforcement actions by the ATO. Such actions may include fines, interest on unpaid taxes, and potential legal proceedings. Additionally, individuals or businesses identified as non-compliant may face further scrutiny, audits, or even criminal charges if the non-compliance is found to be intentional or fraudulent. The exact penalties would be determined based on the nature and severity of the breach.