Program overview
Our motor vehicle registries data-matching program has been operating for over 10 years.
The motor vehicle registries data-matching program has been developed to assess the tax and superannuation compliance of taxpayers involved in buying and selling motor vehicles. We match the data provided by state and territory motor vehicle registry authorities with ATO records to identify those taxpayers who are not meeting their registration, lodgment, reporting, or payment obligations. We collect data from state and territory motor vehicle registry authorities where their records indicate:
- a vehicle has been transferred or newly registered between 2025–26 to 2029–30, and
- the purchase price or market value is equal to or greater than $10,000 – this threshold was determined by review of vehicle prices trends and cost/benefit assessment.
Program objectives
Our data-matching programs help us fulfil our responsibility to protect public revenue and maintain community confidence in the integrity of the tax and superannuation systems.
The objectives of the motor vehicle registries data-matching program are to:
- help taxpayers to meet their tax and superannuation obligations, including through education
- identify taxpayers who may not be meeting their registration, lodgment, reporting and payment obligations and assist them to comply
- establish the risks and trends of taxpayers that buy and sell motor vehicles
- identify taxpayers that have purchased vehicles with values that don't match their reported financial position
- investigate taxpayers of interest, such as sellers, licensed dealers, fleet managers, leasing companies or representatives of these taxpayers to see whether interposed proxy ownership is being used to conceal the true accumulation of wealth, posing a risk to public revenue
- apply compliance actions to those taxpayers who may not have met their obligations across relevant taxes, including goods and services tax (GST), fringe benefits tax, luxury car tax, fuel tax credits and income tax
- promote voluntary compliance and strengthen community confidence in the integrity of the tax and superannuation systems by publicising the running of this data matching program.
Why we look at motor vehicle registries data
Our motor vehicle registries data-matching program allows us to identify and address a range of compliance risks and issues. The program supports us to:
- identify risks related to GST, fringe benefits tax, luxury car tax, fuel tax credits and income tax
- detect higher risk taxpayers with outstanding lodgments or undeclared income where asset holdings don't match their reported financial position
- build a more complete picture of a taxpayer's financial position
- support compliance activities through modelling, risk profiling and case selection
- support whole-of-government and ATO taskforce initiatives including those addressing the shadow economy.
Note: The term ‘black economy’ has now changed to shadow economy. This change reflects the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) definition of unreported or dishonest economic activity.
For more information see: