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Legal Database Reference Manual |
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What is the Legal Database?
The Legal Database provides you with access to the legal and policy information that is used by the Tax Office when making decisions.
Accessing the Legal Database
The Legal Database is available directly through the internet:
- at http://law.ato.gov.au or
- from the home page of the Tax Office website – www.ato.gov.au – select Rulings, policies and law – Legal Database home page.
Using the Legal Database
Finding documents
There are three ways to find documents on the legal database:
- Quick access – if you know the section of an Act or the reference number of a document such as a ruling
- Browse – to navigate through a table of contents for all documents held on the database
- Search – for more complex searching.
Quick access
Quick access is a quick way of:
- going to nominated sections within the 16 most commonly used tax Acts
- going directly to documents such as rulings, ATO IDs and taxpayer alerts.
View legislation
Select View legislation to access specific acts:
- Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
- Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Archive)
- Income Tax Assessment Act 1936
- Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Archive)
- A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999
- Fringe Benefits Tax Act 1986
- Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986
- Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997
- Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997 (Archive)
- Income Tax Act 1986
- Income Tax Rates Act 1986
- Income Tax Rates Act 1986 (Archive)
- International Tax Agreements Act 1953
- Sales Tax (Exemptions & Classifications) Act 1982
- Sales Tax Assessment Act 1992
- Superannuation Contributions Tax (Assessment & Collection) Act 1997
- Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992
- Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993
- Taxation Administration Act 1953
- Excise Tariff Act 1921
Select an act from the drop-down list, enter the section number in the 'Provision' box and click on the Search button to go to the required section.
Example 1: Find Section 6 of the Fringe Benefits Tax Act 1986.
Answer:
- Click on View legislation
- Select Fringe Benefits Tax 1986
- Type 6 in the 'Search' box
- Click on Search
View a document
This function allows you to quickly go to a particular:
- public ruling, determination or bulletin
- legislative determination
- ATO interpretative decision
- case decision summary
- ATO law administration practice statement
- taxpayer alert
- ATO superannuation circular.
If you know the reference number of one of these documents, click on View a document. Select the document type from the drop-down list, enter the number in the 'Reference' box then click on the Search button to go to the required document.
- Use four digit years for all 1999 and subsequent rulings, determinations and bulletins, and for 1998 and subsequent product rulings – for example, TR 1999/3. Use only the last two digits of the year for all earlier rulings – for example, TR 97/11. To view a list of all rulings for a year use the wildcard ‘?’ – for example, TR1999/?
- If you can’t remember the abbreviation for a particular ruling, omit the abbreviation and enter the ruling number – for example, 2003/15. You will be presented with a list of all ruling types with that reference number.
Example 2: Find GSTR 2003/9 (Goods and Services Tax: financial acquisitions threshold).
Answer:
- Click on View a document
- Select Public Rulings, Determinations and Bulletins from the drop-down list
- Type GSTR 2003/9 in the 'Reference' box
- Click on Search
Browse
Select Browse if you don’t know the exact title of the document, or even if it is included on the database. You will access a List of contents – a hierarchical view of the information held in the database. Drill down to the document you need to view.
List of contents
- Legislation and Regulations
- Amending Legislation
- ATO Interpretative Decisions
- ATO Case Decision Summaries
- Case Judgments (including Decision Impact Statements)
- ATO Rulings and Determinations (including GST Bulletins)
- Bulletins (excluding GST Bulletins)
- Extrinsic Materials
- Law Administration Practice Statements
- Taxpayer Alerts
- ATO Guidelines and Policy
- Freedom of Information
- Legislative Determinations
- Other Precedential ATO View Documents
- Superannuation Circulars.
There is also a complete section listing for legislation and ATO guidelines and policy. Select 'View list of provisions' (for legislation) or 'Table of contents' (for guidelines and policies) under the required document in the browse menu.
Example 3: Find a recent taxation ruling on lease surrender receipts and payments.
Answer:
- Click on Browse – ATO Rulings and Determinations – By type – Rulings – Taxation – 2005
- TR 2005/6 is Income tax: lease surrender receipts and payments.
Example 4: You have been told that the Tax Office is investigating profit washing schemes using a trust and loss entity. Where would you find details?
Answer:
- Click on Browse – Taxpayer Alerts – 2005.
- TA 2005/1 is about profit washing schemes using a trust and loss entity.
Example 5: Find the second reading speech for the Fringe Benefits Assessment Act 1986.
Answer:
- Click on Browse – Extrinsic materials – 1986 – Fringe Benefits Assessment Act 1986 – Second reading speech.
Search
Four search functions (basic, advanced, precedential ATO view and point in time) are available under 'Searches' on the left side menu. A quick search option is also available from the top right corner of most pages.
Basic search
The Basic search function allows you to use free text searching to locate items in the legal database relating to a particular area of interest.
- From a drop down list on the search screen, you can restrict your search to particular fields within a document, such as:
- title (of a document)
- judge's name (in a judgment)
- citation
- defined term (in legislation).
- Type in the search term.
- Select search operators if necessary – search an exact phrase, all of the words in the term or any of the words in the term.
- Select document categories (if no category is selected, the entire database will be searched).
Click on the Search button.
Advanced search
The Advanced search function provides the following additional search options.
- Search operators – you can enter two search terms joined with the operators and, or, not, or near (within five words).
Operator |
Result |
AND |
document will contain both search terms |
OR |
document will contain either or both of the search terms |
NOT |
document will contain the first term and will not contain the second search term |
NEAR |
the search terms will be within five words of each other. The near operator should be used to find terms in the same field of the document (for example, title or whole document). Logically two terms in different fields cannot be near each other and such searches will not return any results. |
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In advanced search, when more than one word is entered into a search term box, the search term is treated as a phrase. Use multiple search terms joined together with search operators if you do not want to search for a phrase. |
- Fuzzy search option – matches words that are similar to your search term, and is useful for alternate spellings or if you are unsure of the correct spelling. For example, ‘lodgment’ will match ‘lodgement’ and ‘centre’ will match ‘center’.
- Plural matching option – matches the plural form of your search term.
- Relevance ranking – orders the results within each category by relevance to the search term based on the number of occurrences of your search term and the size of the document. Results are limited to 500 within each category.
- The ability to Add more search terms. By selecting this option, you will add another search box.
- The ability to search the whole document or to Restrict your search to:
- title (of a document)
- judge's name (in a case judgment)
- citation (of a case judgment)
- defined term (in legislation)
- keyword (in case decision summaries, ATO interpretative decisions, superannuation summaries, rulings, determinations, bulletins, law administration practice statements and taxpayer alerts).
Precedential ATO View search
This function allows you to restrict a search to the collection of documents which comprise the precedential ATO view. A precedential ATO view is the Tax Office's documented interpretation of any of the laws administered by the Commissioner in relation to a particular interpretative issue. Precedential ATO views are set out in:
- publicly issued rulings and publicly issued draft rulings
- ATO interpretative decisions (ATO IDs)
- documents listed in the Schedule of documents containing precedential ATO views.
The Precedential ATO View search screen is similar to the Advanced search screen except that search categories are restricted to the documents that contain the precedential ATO view.
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Precedential ATO view documents are also included in the results from the other search functions. |
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More information on the precedential ATO view is available in Law Administration Practice Statement PS LA 2003/3. |
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All forms of published written advice involving the interpretation of the indirect tax laws (except fuel tax laws) are public indirect tax rulings. Only the formal series public rulings issued under Schedule 1 Division 358 of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (such as GST rulings, GST determinations and GST bulletins) are published on the Legal Database and included in the 'Precedential ATO view' search. |
Point in Time search
Point in time searching allows you to search for a public ruling as it read on a particular date. The Point in Time search screen is similar to the Advanced search screen except:
- there is a 'Point in Time' date field
- as point in time functionality is only available for public rulings and determinations, the available categories are restricted to these document types.
Example 6: Find what the Tax Office ruling was as at 30 June 2002 on the supplies of tertiary education courses that are GST-free.
Answer:
- Using the point in time search, conduct a search for ‘GST-free’ and ‘tertiary education’ on point in time date ‘30/06/2002’
- Results include GSTR 2001/1
- A note at the top of that ruling states that the document has changed over time and the history at the end of the document indicates that the version you are viewing is for the period 17 January 2001 to 14 October 2003. The history allows you to navigate to later versions of the ruling and to the addendum notice that has amended the ruling.
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More information on consolidated public rulings is available under Viewing documents. |
Search results
Search results are grouped by category (document type). A summary of the number of results for each category is listed on the right of the screen.
Click on the 
next to larger categories (such as Rulings, Determinations and Bulletins) to expand the category into its sub-categories. Select a category or sub-category to view the relevant results. A maximum of twenty results will be listed on each page. Select the page numbers at the bottom of the results page to access more results.
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You can return to the Results screen by selecting Searches > Results from the left side menu. |
Navigating within search results
- Select the document you want to view from the search results list by clicking on the title of the document.
- Click on Go To First Hit, near the top of the document, to move to the first occurrence of your search term in the document.
- Each search term is enclosed with angled brackets (<< >>). These navigation aids allow you to scan your search result document so that you can determine its value to your research.
- Click on >> to move to the next occurrence of the search term.
- Click on << to move to the previous occurrence of the search term.
Refining searches
You are able to refine your search by searching across the results of your previous search. Type your additional search criteria in the field located at the bottom of the search results screen and click on the Search button. This function is also available from the Cross Reference Material results page.
Example 7: Find the tax rulings on the liability of owners of motor cycles for FBT.
Answer:
- Click on Advanced search on left hand margin
- Type motor cycles in the first search term box
- Select 'AND' from the drop down search operator box
- Type FBT in the second search term box
- Click on Search
- On the results page, select 'Rulings, Determinations and Bulletins' on the right side categories to display the results for rulings.
Example 8: Is pet food GST exempt?
Answer:
- Click on Advanced search on left hand margin
- Type pet food in the first search term box
- Select 'AND' from the drop down search operator box
- Type GST in the second search term box
- Click on Search
Viewing documents
Document toolbar
Additional document information and navigation aids are available from the document toolbar when viewing a document:
- PDF – allows you to download/open a PDF version of the current document – not available for all document types.
- Email – generates a draft email in your default email program containing a link to the current document.
- Cross Reference Material – provides a list of other documents that make reference to the current document. It is useful to determine whether there are any rulings, cases or other documents relevant to a particular provision of legislation. Hint: hovering your mouse pointer over the 'Cross Reference Material' link will display the number of documents that will be listed.
- Previous/Next Section – moves to the previous or next section in legislation and multi-part documents (for example, large rulings).
- Contents – opens the 'Browse' menu (table of contents) positioned at the current document.
- Previous/Next Result – moves to the previous or next document on the results list (only available when viewing a document as a result of a search).
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Not all document toolbar commands are available in all documents. The text of a command will be grey (instead of white) if it is not available. |
Example 9: Has the Tax Office issued any rulings or taxpayer alerts relevant to section 82AAC of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936?
Answer:
- Click on View legislation
- Select Income Tax Assessment Act 1936
- Type 82AAC in the 'Search' box
- Click on Search
- Click on the link to section 82AAC from the results screen
- Click Cross Reference Material in the document toolbar at the top of the screen
Legislation
Legislative History
Two forms of legislative history are provided in the Legal Database.
History notes
In-line history notes are presented in an expandable/collapsible control.
- Select View history note to display the history.
- Select Hide history note to close the note.
History references
A View history references link in legislation will take you to a table showing the history of amendments to that section, with links to related explanatory memoranda and second reading speeches.
Other legislative navigation aids
- The ITAA 1997 and ITAA 1936 links adjacent to provision headings in either the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 or the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, provide a cross reference to associated provisions in each Act.
- The Previous Section/Next Section links in the document toolbar will display the previous or next sections of legislation.
Rulings, determinations, practice statements and taxpayer alerts
- The 'PDF version' (PDF function in the document toolbar) will open/download a PDF version of the document which is better formatted for printing.
- Some large rulings are split into several files – use the Previous Section/Next Section buttons to move between pages.
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The printable version and PDF version will display the entire ruling |
Public rulings and determinations are progressively being consolidated to incorporate addendum, erratum, and withdrawal notices. Consolidated public rulings are now available for taxation rulings (TR series), taxation determinations (TD series), GST rulings (GSTR series) and GST determinations (GSTD series). Other ruling types will be progressively consolidated throughout 2009.
If a public ruling or determination has been consolidated there will be:
- a note at the top of the document indicating that it has changed over time
- a document history at the end of the ruling indicating the version you are viewing and allowing you to move between different versions. Links are also provided to the relevant notices of addendum, erratum and partial withdrawal.
Subscription service
Two types of subscriptions are available:
- email subscriptions
- really simple syndication (RSS) newsfeeds.
Subscriptions are available for:
- ATO interpretative decisions
- ATO policy papers
- Decision impact statements
- Law administration practice statements
- Legislative determinations
- Rulings and determinations
- Taxpayer alerts.
Both types of subscriptions are available by selecting the 'Subscribe' link in the top right corner of the Legal Database.
Email subscriptions
You can subscribe to receive email updates when new information is added to the legal database.
The emails contain the number and title of new documents together with links to them on the Legal Database. You can elect to receive the email updates daily, weekly or monthly.
RSS news feeds
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) news feeds allow you to receive updates on new content as soon as it is added to the database. When one of the feeds (categories) you subscribe to is updated, you will receive an alert on your desktop. The headlines come with the title and links to the full document.
An RSS feed reader is required to access the news feeds. The latest version of most web browsers, such as Internet Explorer 7, Netscape 9, Firefox 2 and Opera 9 have built-in feed readers.
You will need to follow the instructions of the particular feed reader you select to use. If you use one of the web browsers listed above, you can quickly set up the news feeds by clicking on the 
icon that appears in the toolbar (Internet Explorer) or address bar (other browsers) when you are viewing any Legal Database page. If this icon does not appear or is disabled, you can access RSS news feeds via the 'Subscribe' link in the top right corner of the Legal Database.
Database content
The database contains:
The Legal Database contains the principal and amending acts that govern Commonwealth tax law, as well as the associated regulations and extrinsic material (explanatory memoranda and second reading speeches).
- Public rulings, determinations and bulletins
Public rulings and determinations set out the Commissioner's opinion about how a tax law applies.
Legislative determinations are instruments issued by the Commissioner (or delegate). The Legal Database currently contains legislative determinations relating to excise, goods and services tax, income tax and the pay as you go system.
- ATO interpretative decisions
An ATO interpretative decision (ATO ID) is a summary of a decision on an interpretative issue and is indicative of the Commissioner's view on the interpretation of the law on that particular issue. ATO IDs are produced to help Tax Office officers to apply the law consistently and accurately to particular situations.
- Case decision summaries
- ATO law administration practice statements
Law administration practice statements provide direction/assistance to staff on the approaches to be taken in performing duties involving the application of the laws administered by the Commissioner.
- Taxpayer alerts
Taxpayer alerts are intended to be an early warning of Tax Office concerns about significant and emerging potential aggressive tax planning issues or arrangements that the Tax Office has under risk assessment.
- Tax related case law
The Legal Database contains published case judgments from Australian courts which involve taxation matters.
- Decision impact statements
Decision impact statements are a succinct statement of the Tax Office response to significant cases decided by the courts or tribunals. They provide details of the case, including the implication of the decision and whether any public rulings, determinations and interpretative decisions will need to be amended.
- ATO policy papers
The Legal Database includes prosecutions policy, compensation policy and guidelines, and receivables policy.
- ATO Superannuation Circulars
Superannuation Circulars explain the various legislative and regulative requirements that apply to the operation of self-managed superannuation funds under the Superannuation Industry Supervisions Act and associated regulations.
- Freedom of information index
The freedom of information index provides references to technical rulings, guidelines, instructions, interpretations of the law and details of a number of procedures and practices followed within the Tax Office.
- Schedule of documents containing the precedential ATO view
A precedential ATO view is the Tax Office's documented interpretation of any of the laws administered by the Commissioner in relation to a particular interpretative issue. The documents listed in this schedule can be used as valid sources of the precedential ATO view.
Last Modified: Tuesday, 16 December 2008
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© Commonwealth of Australia
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