We have a strong focus on deterring, detecting and dealing with non-compliance to ensure that those meeting their civil and legal responsibilities are not disadvantaged.
The economy continues to feel the impacts of the global financial crisis, recent floods and other natural disasters. This environment presents a number of challenges as we balance the support we give to people in these circumstances and the actions we take against those unwilling to comply with their taxation and superannuation obligations.
We are committed to supporting viable businesses experiencing short-term financial difficulties. We take the individual circumstances of each taxpayer into account when considering the level of support and assistance we can provide.
Our support for taxpayers, tax agents and superannuants extends across a range of high quality products and services.
We know tax practitioners play an important role in supporting the integrity of our taxation and superannuation systems. We are dedicating significant resources to managing our relationship with them, by providing specifically designed services and products to meet their needs.
We are focused on improving online services for approved auditors of self-managed superannuation funds.
When many in the business community are under pressure it is important that the system is seen as fair and equitable. We are taking firm action where businesses are not viable or unwilling to engage. These businesses have an unfair advantage by not complying with their taxation and superannuation obligations.
We use data-matching and risk-profiling techniques to identify entities that appear to be using non-lodgment, or partial lodgment, as a means of circumventing our compliance efforts.
Our work on Project Wickenby contributes to protecting the integrity of Australia's financial and regulatory systems by preventing promotion of, and participation in, abusive secrecy haven schemes.
Our collaboration with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is increasing global transparency and providing significantly more exchanges of information. We are continuing our partnerships with international revenue authorities and domestic law enforcement bodies.
We work with Treasury and continue to consult, collaborate and co-design with taxpayers and our consultative forums to address those issues of uncertainty and contention in the law.
We welcome the community's cooperation in identifying tax avoidance arrangements, including employers where they are not meeting their obligations and abusive practices and schemes involving promoters and participants.
Our compliance program identifies matters of concern to us and highlights what we intend to do so that taxpayers can make informed choices.
This year we will:
- enhance our tax fraud detection and management
- concentrate on sham contracting arrangements where individuals are incorrectly set up as contractors, instead of as employees of a business
- deliver our GST commitments to the states and territories
- reduce phoenix arrangements through a coordinated program of reviews and audits of directors
- focus on those who fail to report some or all cash transactions to ensure a level playing field
- protect employee rights by ensuring employers are paying the correct amount of superannuation guarantee
- use data matching and risk profiling to identify those who are using non-lodgment or partial lodgment to circumvent their responsibilities
- identify businesses who have received government payments and review those suspected of not correctly reporting income or not meeting their pay as you go withholding and superannuation obligations
- examine businesses operating outside our small business benchmarks
- extend our focus on lodgment compliance within private groups, including wealthy Australians
- continue to deal with the abusive use of tax secrecy havens including Project Wickenby
- strengthen our involvement in multi-agency task forces that target the tax implications of organised crime
- consider tax exploitation schemes and apply promoter penalty legislation
- implement strategies to deal with concerns we have with trustees of self-managed superannuation funds
- regulate self-managed superannuation funds and act against the illegal access or release of superannuation
- engage our very largest taxpayers in cooperative compliance approaches
- examine large business corporate governance processes for managing income and indirect tax risks
- develop strategies to optimise the role of the Tax Practitioners Board, including the referral of tax practitioners who breach their responsibilities
- develop a framework to tailor information, products and services for registered agents that enable us to differentiate and target our approaches
- focus on tax returns or activity statements lodged by unregistered preparers.
Last Modified: Friday, 1 July 2011