Real property transactions 1985-2017 data matching program protocol
1 Data matching guidelines
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is committed to voluntarily complying with theGuidelines on data matching in Australian government administration (2014) (Guidelines) published by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
The real property transactions data matching program protocol is prepared and published in accordance with these Guidelines.
2 OverviewThe ATO uses data from the state and territory authorities responsible for revenue, land titles and residential tenancy bonds to assist taxpayers in meeting their capital gains and obligations under other taxation laws and programs administered by the ATO. This is achieved through prefilling income tax returns, educational strategies and compliance activities. The ATO had conducted this program for more than 10 years.
The ATO intends to continue to match the data collected from the state and territory agencies with data it holds under this program. This is an ongoing data matching program and the states and territories provide the data within an agreed delivery program. As a taxpayer may hold real property for a number of years before disposing of it, a complete real property transaction history dating back to 20 September 1985 (the introduction of the capital gains tax regime) is required. The transaction history allows for a more accurate quantification of any capital gain.
In the 2013-14 Federal Budget the government announced that it would legislate to make the reporting of real property transfers to the ATO mandatory in the future. The current government confirmed that it would proceed with this measure, applying from the 2016-17 financial year onward. From 2017, once this legislation is enacted in Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2015 Measures No. 5) Bill 2015, there will no longer be a need for the ATO to publish this data matching program protocol for property transfer information as the provision of this data will by then be required of the States and Territories under that legislation.
3 Purpose & objectives3.1 PurposeThe purpose of this data matching program is to ensure that taxpayers are correctly meeting taxation and other program obligations administered by the ATO in relation to their dealings with real property. These obligations include registration, lodgment, reporting and payment responsibilities.
3.2 ObjectivesThe objectives of the real property transactions data matching program are to:
- promote voluntary compliance and strengthen community confidence in the integrity of the taxation and superannuation systems and other programs administered by the ATO
- obtain intelligence about the acquisition and disposal of real property and identify risks and trends of non-compliance across the broader compliance program
- identify a range of compliance activities appropriate to address risks with real property transactions by taxpayers and others that are required to notify the ATO of dealings in real property
- work with real property intermediaries to obtain an understanding of risks and issues as well as trends of non-compliance
- support compliance strategies to minimise future risks to revenue
- ensure compliance with registration, lodgment, correct reporting and payment of taxation, superannuation and other obligations.
The ATO is the matching agency and will generally be the sole user of the data. The data matching program will be conducted using the ATO’s secure computer systems and in accordance with approved policies and procedures.
In very limited and specific circumstances as contained in Division 355 of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953, the ATO may provide individual records to other agencies, including state and territory revenue authorities and law enforcement agencies. These other agencies include those responsible for:
- administering social welfare, health and safety programs for the purposes of determining eligibility to certain types of benefits and rebates
- overseeing superannuation funds, corporations and financial market operators to ensure compliance with prudential regulations
- determining entitlement to rehabilitation and compensation payments.
Each request for information by these other government agencies will be assessed on its merits and must be for an admissible purpose allowed for by taxation laws.
4.2 Source entitiesData will be obtained from:
New South Wales Office of State Revenue | New South Wales Department of Finance & Services – Land & Property Information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
New South Wales Office of Fair Trading – Rental Bond Board | Victorian State Revenue Office | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Residential Tenancies Bond Authority – Consumer Affairs Victoria | Australian Capital Territory Environment & Planning Directorate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Australian Capital Territory Office of Regulatory Services (Land Titles Office) | (Northern) Territory Revenue Office | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Territory Department of Lands, Planning and the Environment | Queensland Office of State Revenue | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Queensland Residential Tenancies Authority | Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water & Environment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tasmanian State Revenue Office | Department of Justice – Tasmania | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Revenue SA | South Australian Department of Planning, Transport & Infrastructure – Land Services Group | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Western Australian Office of State Revenue | Western Australian Land Information Authority – Landgate 评论 8 Action resulting from the program Data will generally be used to identify taxpayers that have disposed of real property during a financial year that potentially triggers a capital gains tax event. This may be used to:
Before any administrative action is taken, taxpayers will be provided with the opportunity to verify the accuracy of the information obtained by the ATO. Taxpayers will be given at least 28 days to respond before administrative action is taken. Initial contact with the taxpayer will usually be by letter. For example, where discrepancy matching identifies that a taxpayer is not reporting all of their income, but in fact they are reporting the income under another entity, the taxpayer will be given the opportunity to clarify the situation. The data may also be used to ensure that taxpayers are complying with their other taxation and superannuation obligations, including registration requirements, lodgment obligations and payment responsibilities. In cases where taxpayers fail to comply with these obligations after being reminded of them, escalation for prosecution action may be instigated in appropriate circumstances. Where a taxpayer has correctly met their obligations, the use of the data will reduce the likelihood of contact from the ATO. 9 Time limits applying to the program The ATO is seeking to have the Privacy Commissioner exercise his discretion and allow the ATO to vary from the data destruction requirements contained in the Guidelines. The collection of data under this program protocol is expected to occur progressively on a quarterly basis throughout 2015 and until 2017. The ATO is seeking to retain the data for five (5) years. The retention of this data is required for the protection of public revenue. Current guidelines allow for a 12 month retention. Destroying the data in the timeframes contained in the Guidelines would hinder the ATO’s ability to protect public revenue by not allowing us to detect where a taxpayer may have disposed of real property, potentially triggering a capital gains tax event. A full case setting out the basis for seeking this variation to the Guidelines and its impacts on individual privacy is contained at Appendix A. 10 Public notice of the programThe ATO will publish a public notification of this data matching program in the Commonwealth government notices gazette in the week commencing 7 December 2015. A copy of the gazette notice will be provided to the data providers and the OAIC. A copy of the proposed gazette notice is included at Appendix B. The ATO will publish a copy of this data matching program protocol on its website once the gazette notice has been published. It can be accessed fromwww.ato.gov.au/dmprotocols Data providers have been advised they may also notify their clients of participation in this data matching program and they are considering their options. 11 Privacy complaintsThe ATO’s privacy policy can be accessed from www.ato.gov.au/privacy If a taxpayer is not satisfied with how the ATO has collected, held, used or disclosed its personal information, they can make a formal complaint by:
ATO Complaints PO Box 1271 ALBURY NSW 2640 If a taxpayer is not satisfied with the outcome of the privacy complaint, they can contact the OAIC. More details on the process for doing so can be found atwww.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaintExternal Link 12 Relationship to lawful functionsThe Commissioner of Taxation has responsibility for ensuring taxpayers meet their obligations under taxation and superannuation and other laws. Compliance with these obligations is a matter the ATO takes seriously and failure to address non-compliant behaviour has the potential to undermine community confidence in the integrity of the taxation and superannuation systems, and the ATO’s capacity to administer those systems. The ATO’s data matching program is one of the strategies used to identify and deal with non-compliant behaviour. Data matching programs also provide a degree of assurance that taxpayers are meeting their obligations. 13 Legal authority13.1 ATO legislationThe data will be obtained under the ATO’s formal information gathering powers contained in Section 353-10 of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953. These are coercive powers that obligate the data providers to furnish the information requested. The ATO will use the information for taxation and superannuation compliance purposes. 13.2 Privacy ActData will only be used within the limits prescribed by Australian Privacy Principle 6 (APP6) contained in Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 1988 and in particular:
The ATO has considered a range of alternatives to this data matching program to ensure taxpayers are complying with their taxation and superannuation obligations. Relying only on data already held by the ATO is of limited value for the following reasons:
This ongoing data matching program has demonstrated that it is the most cost-effective and least intrusive way to detect compliance issues with real property transactions. This data matching program will allow the ATO to identify taxpayers who are not fully complying with their obligations, as well as those that may be operating outside the taxation and superannuation systems. It will also reduce the likelihood of the ATO unnecessarily contacting taxpayers who appear to be complying with their taxation obligations. Data matching is an effective method of examining records of thousands of taxpayers to ensure compliance with lodgment and reporting obligations that would otherwise be a resource-intensive exercise. It also assists the ATO in effectively promoting voluntary compliance by notifying the public of areas and activities under scrutiny. 15 Costs & benefits15.1 CostsThere are some incidental costs to the ATO in the conduct of this data matching program, but these will be more than offset by the total revenue protected. These costs include:
Benefits from conducting this data matching program include:
评论 Appendix A Variation to the Guidelines 17 November 2015 Mr Timothy Pilgrim Acting Australian Information Commissioner Office of the Australian Information Commissioner GPO Box 5218 SYDNEY NSW 2001 Dear Mr Pilgrim The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is seeking your approval to deviate from Guideline 7 of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines on data matching in Australian government administration (2014) (the Guidelines) for the real property transactions data matching program. Due to the continued collection of real property transactions and the need to retain historical records we are seeking to retain data for five years from receipt of all verified data files from the data providers. We consider that a variation from the usual retention periods for this data matching program is in the public interest as:
We have determined that this variation will not affect the privacy of an individual. This program will be subject to an evaluation within three years which is consistent with the requirements of Guideline 9. Additional information justifying this variation is included in the tables below:
We do not require that this request be kept confidential (Guideline 10.6) and have no concerns if the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner place this information on its website. I look forward to your response to this exemption request. Yours sincerely, John Ford Deputy Commissioner Smarter Data Table 1: Matters considered in seeking this variation to the Guidelines
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