Data matching
Ensure your clients provide all their income when lodging their tax return early as we match it with third-party data.
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Third-party data sources
We receive information from third-party sources that we use for a range of activities, including data matching. This helps taxpayers get their tax returns right.
We receive information from a variety of third-party sources, including:
- employers
- financial institutions
- companies
- private health funds
- businesses
- government agencies.
We use this data for data matching against information taxpayers report in their tax returns.
Matching data ensures that taxpayers declare all their income, offsets and exemptions correctly. It helps to reduce errors and prevent delays in processing returns.
Using pre-filled and third-party data
Much of the matched data is pre-filled in taxpayer returns. Pre-filled data is available from 1 July, with most data finalised by the end of July. Some data is received later, like trust distributions.
Last year we amended over 400,000 individual tax returns before issuing tax assessments. We used third-party data that was available through your pre-fill service yet was omitted from the clients' tax returns.
We also corrected tax returns for around 180,000 individual taxpayers with discrepancies. We were able to validate information using third-party sources after the issue of their tax assessments.
What to include in tax returns
Take extra care when preparing your clients' tax returns at the start of the financial year, ideally once their pre-filled data has been completed. Remind your clients they need to provide all the necessary information, including income or tax not already pre-filled.
Some government payments are taxable but not pre-filled, such as pandemic leave disaster payments. These will need to be added.
Clients with a spouse will need to provide a reasonable estimate of their income. This will enable an accurate assessment of their private health insurance rebate and any Medicare levy surcharge to be determined.
Expanding our data matching
With improved data available from more sources, we are expanding our data matching to include areas such as:
- crypto asset transactions
- sharing economy — accommodation providers
- property management reports
- novated lease vehicle information.
Ensure your clients provide all their income when lodging their tax return early as we match it with third-party data.