The ATO’s extensive data-matching program continues to grow, expanding to include data from “lifestyle asset” insurers and property management software providers.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) said it would include insurance policy data for the financial years 2024 to 2026, reaping an extra 2.4 million records.
The expanded landlord compliance data-matching would apply to financial years 2019 to 2026 and was expected to involve data of 2.3 million individuals for each year, the agency said.
Collection gap concerns
The agency has been chasing a multi-billion-dollar shortfall or “gap” in its revenue collection identified as part of its Random Enquiry Program (REP). The REP identified a $AU10.2 billion collection gap for the for the 2021 financial year – roughly 6.3 per cent of all revenue.
Since then, it has set about improving the quality of the data it collects using informal information gathering powers under the tax administration act.
“Lifestyle asset” insurers in scope
The ATO said it would collect insurance policy data for asset classes including, motor vehicles caravans and motorhomes, thoroughbred horses, fine art, marine vessels and aircraft where their value met nominated thresholds.
| Asset class | Minimum asset value threshold |
| Caravans and motorhomes | $65,000 |
| Motor vehicles including*:
– cars & trucks – motorcycles |
$65,000 |
| Thoroughbred horses | $65,000 |
| Fine art | $100,000 per item |
| Marine vessels | $100,000 |
| Aircraft | $150,000 |
Source: ATO. Minimum asset value thresholds for data-matching
The ATO said the objectives of the program included “(identifying) possible compliance issues with income tax, capital gains tax (CGT), fringe benefits tax (FBT), goods and services tax (GST) and super obligations” and “identify and educate individuals and businesses failing to meet registration and lodgement obligations”.
The ATO also said that was concerned that taxpayers might be disposing of assets without reporting sufficient income or capital gains on those transactions or acquiring and improving assets without reporting sufficient income to pay for them.
The scope of the data collection under the insurance data collection program is broad. It covers names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, ABNs and email addresses.
It also includes a broad range of policy details such as total value insured, purchase prices of property insured, registration or identification number of the asset, vehicle details and descriptions of their use.
The ATO was also concerned that the self-managed super funds (SMSF) might be acquiring assets and using them unlawfully.
Landlord crackdown
It’s also expanding the landlord data-matching collection program it first revealed in May 2021 for the financial year 2019 to 2023.
The ATO said that it was concerned that some property owners may be incorrectly calculating rental income and overreporting expenses. It said it was also concerned that capital works or depreciating assets were being claimed as repairs and maintenance.
The program would be applied to property management software companies or their subsidiaries operating in Australia. It will include both residential and commercial property data.
It’s not clear whether the collection regime will apply to offshore providers or local providers that use offshore cloud services.
The ATO said that the collection strategy would help inform education campaigns in addition to compliance enforcement. The agency is also an offering an informal amnesty period to individuals and companies.
It said that “before we take any administrative action, the taxpayer will be able to verify the accuracy of the information we hold. They will have 28 days to respond before we take administrative action associated with property management data use”.