Commissioner of Taxation
NOTICE OF A DATA MATCHING PROGRAM
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will continue to acquire details of entities that receive contractor payments from other businesses for the 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 financial years. This is the continuation of an ongoing program where data will be obtained from businesses that are subject to compliance activities conducted by the employer obligations area within the ATO. Data may also be collected from other businesses associated with the primary businesses.
The data items that will be obtained are:
- Australian Business Number (ABN) of the payer business
- ABN of the payee business (contractor)
- Name of the contractor
- Address of the contractor
- Telephone details of the contract
- Dates of payments to the contractors
- Amounts paid the contractor (including details of whether the payment included GST)
It is estimated that records for approximately 25,000 entities will be obtained each year, including the records for approximately 12,500 individuals.
These records will be electronically matched with certain sections of ATO data holdings to identify non-compliance with registration, lodgment, reporting and payment obligations under taxation laws.
The purpose of this data matching program is to ensure that taxpayers are correctly meeting their taxation obligations in relation to contractor payments. These obligations include registration, lodgment, reporting and payment responsibilities.
Objectives of the contractor payments data matching program:
- Identify and address contractors that may not be meeting their taxation obligations, including registration, lodgment and reporting
- Verify the integrity of the information held on the Australian Business Register to assist the Registrar develop educational and compliance strategies
- Obtain intelligence to identify risks and trends about contractors that may not be complying with their taxation obligations
- Better tailor educational products and services to address identified areas of concern and give more certainty to taxpayers in managing their obligations
- Promote voluntary compliance and strengthen community confidence in the integrity of the tax system.
A document describing this program has been prepared in consultation with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. A copy of this document is available:
- at www.ato.gov.au/dmprotocols
- by sending an email to SpecialPurposeDataSteward@ato.gov.au with reference to 15020 Contractor Payments 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 accessed at www.ato.gov.au/privacy