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Government to provide $111m boost to ATO taxation compliance programs

Tax

The government will provide an additional $111 million in funding to the ATO on its personal taxation compliance programs along with increased scrutiny on the “shadow economy”.

Sponsored by Tony Zhang 12 minute read

The Australian Taxation Office's shadow economy and personal income tax compliance programs are expected to increase the tax take by $1.2 billion over the next four years, according to the new Mid-Year Economic Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) update released on Thursday.

The government will provide funding of $111 million to continue the ATO’s personal income taxation and shadow economy compliance programs along with $0.6 million for an independent review of the ATO’s ongoing resourcing requirements.

The programs are funded until 30 June 2023.

“The extension of the two specified compliance programs will enable the ATO to continue to address high risk behaviours while the broader review takes place,” the government said.

“This measure is estimated to increase receipts by $1.2 billion and increase GST payments to the states and territories by $187.7 million over the forward estimates period."

The government will also provide $111.9 million over four years from 2021-22 to support the delivery of government priorities in the Treasury portfolio.

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As part of the $111 million funding package, the tax office will receive $8.6 million to help with the administration involved in delivering business support programs.

Around $23.5 million funding will be provided to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), which will also provide core capabilities of the Treasury and reforms related to the payment system and crypto assets. 

Additionally, $7.0 million will be provided to ASIC to implement Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response – Better Advice) Act 2021, with costs to be partially offset by the fees and levies collected by ASIC.

The ATO will also receive $42.4 million over the next two years to modernise its IT systems. 

This will include strengthening the tax office’s data-matching capabilities and its ability to pre-fill tax returns via MyGov. 

Separately, the government will provide $2.4 million over three years from 2022-23 to develop a service that supports superannuation funds to transfer members’ superannuation balances to the ATO for reunification with members’ eligible active accounts identified via the service.

The account matching service would operate for two years, commencing in 2022-23. 

The government also deferred the commencement of the single default account measure by four months, from 1 July 2021 to 1 November 2021. The delay provided employers with additional time to prepare for the new requirements. This is estimated to increase receipts by $19.0 million over the forward estimates period.

Tony Zhang

Tony Zhang

AUTHOR

Tony Zhang is a journalist at Accountants Daily, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the accounting sector.

Since joining the Momentum Media team in 2020, Tony has written for a range of its publications including Lawyers Weekly, Adviser Innovation, ifa and SMSF Adviser. He has been full-time on Accountants Daily since September 2021.

You can email Tony at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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