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Proposals to review areas such as tax identity fraud, client-agent linking and the registered agent phone line by the Inspector-General of Taxation have been welcomed by the institute.
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Tax Institute welcomes IGTO's proposed review areas
18 October 2024
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The Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman (IGTO) released a consultation on its draft work plan for systemic reviews last month, which sets out the areas it has identified as suitable for broad, systemic reviews.
The Work Plan has been divided into two separate lists with the short list containing priority areas the IGTO intends to commence reviews on in the coming year.
The long list contains topics for consideration as options for being reviewed.
The IGTO listed the identification and management of tax financial abuse and tax identity fraud as two of the four priority areas it wants to investigate in the coming year.
The Work Plan noted that financial abuse can manifest in a number of ways and can result in one partner unwittingly becoming liable for tax debts related to entities over which they have no or limited control.
The IGTO said it wanted to undertake a review into whether the ATO has robust and effective policies and procedures for identifying and supporting victim survivors of financial abuse.
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It would also consider whether the tax law currently provides sufficient powers for the commissioner to grant relief where tax financial abuse is demonstrated.
As part of its proposed review into tax identity fraud, the IGTO would examine whether the ATO’s policies and processes for dealing with taxpayers and their representatives affected by tax identity fraud are reasonable and proportionate to the risks.
It would also look at opportunities for the ATO to improve its capability to distinguish between taxpayers who are legitimate victims of tax identity fraud and those who are complicit in fraud.
The other two proposed priority areas include investigating the ATO's communications about unpaid superannuation and supporting taxpayers experiencing financial hardship.
In its long list of proposed issues for review, the IGTO is also considering reviewing the effectiveness of the ATO's registered agent phone line.
The IGTO said registered tax and BAS agents play a critical role in the effective administration of tax and superannuation and that efficient and effective engagement between the ATO and registered agents was therefore essential to the health of the system.
"The IGTO has received concerns about the timeliness and effectiveness of engagements through the registered agent phone line," it said.
The proposed review would investigate the timeliness of responses to calls made to the registered agent phone line and whether the resourcing and capability of the officers assigned to the registered agent phone line are adequate to meet demand.
It would also look at opportunities to improve the effectiveness of the registered agent phone line to support agents.
The IGTO is also considering reviewing the ATO's engagement with tax practitioners regarding the client-agent linking system.
"The IGTO would look to explore how the ATO has addressed issues raised by the tax profession during the design and implementation of the system," it said.
The ATO's approach to general interest charge remission is also listed as an option for review.
That review would examine whether the ATO’s application of existing policies and procedures for GIC remission requests aligns with PSLA 2011/12 and whether remission decisions are made consistently for taxpayers in like circumstances.
Other issues proposed for review include policies and processes for engaging with vulnerable taxpayers, the disclosure of business tax debts and the ATO's letters and written communications.
In a recent submission to the IGTO's consultation, the Tax Institute said it welcomed the proposed topics in both the short and long lists of review subjects and considered all identified areas significant.
The Tax Institute said examining the effectiveness of the registered agent phone line review would be crucial.
"It is equally important to enhance the communication channels available for legal professionals representing taxpayers in dealings with the ATO," it added.
The Tax Institute said it may also consider reviewing the effectiveness of the ATO’s interaction with other government agencies and what opportunities exist to maximise efficiencies in information sharing such as memorandums of understanding and whether MoUs restrict inter-agency.
The institute said there may also be opportunities to integrate some topics to streamline the time frames for reviews given the overlap.
"There appears to be some overlap among some of the topics; for example, the review of ‘policies and processes for engaging with vulnerable taxpayers’ (in the long list) is closely related to issues that would fall within scope of the ‘identification and management of tax financial abuse’ and ‘support for taxpayers experiencing financial hardships’ reviews (in the short list)," it said.
"Similarly, the matters to be considered in the review of ‘general interest charge remission’ may overlap in some respects with these categories."
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