Commissioner of Taxation - Notice of a data matching program
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will acquire information during the 2016‑17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 financial years, on vehicles that have been transferred or newly registered where the purchase price or market value is equal to or greater than $10,000.
Data will be acquired from the eight State and Territory motor vehicle registry authorities.
■ Australian Capital Territory
- Office of Regulatory Services, Justice and Community Safety Directorate
■ New South Wales
- Roads and Maritime Services
■ Northern Territory
- Department of Lands and Planning
■ Queensland
- Department of Transport and Main Roads
■ South Australia
- Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure
■ Tasmania
- Department of State Growth Resources, Registration and Licencing Branch
■ Victoria
- VicRoads Licencing and Registrations Operations
■ Western Australia
- Department of Transport
The data items that will be obtained are:
■ Details of the purchaser(s), seller(s), licenced dealer, fleet manager, leasing company (or representative of any of these) and the registering person for an unincorporated body, including:
- Name – individual
- Name – business (legal and trading)
- Address (including postcode) – residential, business (for legal notices), postal (for renewals)
- Date of birth – (individuals)
- Contact phone number
- Australian business number (if applicable)
- Australian company number (if applicable)
Based on experience from previous data motor vehicle registries matching programs, the majority of transactions involve only a single seller and single buyer.
■ Transaction details will include:
- Date of transaction
- Type of transaction (eg. new registration, transfer)
- Sale price of the vehicle
- Market value of the vehicle
- Vehicle’s garage address
- Type of intended vehicle use (eg. private, business)
- Vehicle make
- Vehicle model
- Vehicle body type
- Year of manufacture
- Engine capacity or number of cylinders
- Tare weight (unladen weight)
- Gross weight (gross vehicle mass and/or gross combination mass)
- Vehicle identification number (chassis number)
- Registration number
- Transaction receipt number
- State stamp duty exemption (yes or no)
- Reason for stamp duty exemption
- Dealer’s licence number
It is estimated that records of 1.5 million individuals will be obtained each financial year.
These records will be electronically matched with ATO data holdings to identify non‑compliance with obligations under taxation and superannuation laws.
The objectives of this data matching program are to:
■ Primarily identify and address non-compliance with taxation obligations
■ Obtain intelligence about taxpayers that buy and sell motor vehicles to identify risks and trends of non-compliance with taxation and superannuation obligations
■ Identify and address taxpayers buying and selling motor vehicles who may not be meeting their obligations to register and lodge returns (including activity statements) and ensure the correct reporting of income and entitlement to both deductions and input tax credits
■ Use the motor vehicle purchaser’s data as an indicator of risk, along with other data holdings, to identify taxpayers that have purchased vehicles with values that are not commensurate with the income they have reported
■ Identify cases for investigation of taxpayers of interest, such as seller(s), licenced dealers, fleet managers, leasing companies or representatives of these taxpayers to determine if the use of interposed proxy ownership is used to conceal the real accumulation of wealth, therefore representing a material threat to public revenue
■ Identify and deal with those taxpayers who may not have met their obligations primarily with regards to GST, fringe benefits tax, luxury car tax, fuel schemes and income tax
■ Promote voluntary compliance and strengthen community confidence in the integrity of the taxation and superannuation systems by publicising the running of this data matching program
■ Ensure compliance with registration, lodgment, correct reporting and payment of taxation and superannuation obligations.
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
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