Real property transactions data-matching program overview

Objectives and purposes of our real property transactions data-matching program.

Published 24 August 2026

Program overview

This protocol has been prepared to meet the requirements of the Guidelines on Data Matching in Australian Government Administration 2014 (Guidelines) published by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

The real property transactions data-matching program has been conducted since 2005 to ensure compliance with taxation obligations on the disposal of real property, especially in relation to capital gains tax (CGT).

The disposal of a property may trigger a CGT event, and this can occur after an asset has been held for many years. Real property transaction history dating back to 20 September 1985 (the introduction of the CGT regime) is required to enable cost base and capital proceeds calculations that are used to determine a CGT liability.

In the 2013–14 Federal Budget, the government announced it would legislate to make the reporting of property transfers to the ATO mandatory. The Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2015 Measures No. 5) Bill 2015 was enacted, and the reporting regime commenced from 1 July 2017. Property transfers that occur after this date are reported under the legislative regime.

The legislative reporting regime gathers real property transaction data and has done so since its commencement. The regime doesn't gather data retrospectively.

Data acquired under this data-matching program will continue to be required until all properties have been transferred within the legislative reporting regime.

This data-matching protocol has been amended from the original version published in December 2017 to align with existing data-matching practices:

General Disposal Authority 24 (GDA 24) has been revoked, and an exemption is no longer required to retain the data beyond the retention period
Adopted the updated data-matching protocol template.

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 real property transactions data-matching program are to:

promote voluntary compliance and strengthen community confidence in the integrity of the taxation and superannuation systems and other programs administered by the ATO
obtain intelligence about the acquisition and disposal of real property and identify risks and trends of non-compliance across the broader compliance program
identify a range of compliance activities to address risks with real property transactions by taxpayers and others that are required to notify the ATO of dealings in real property
work with real property intermediaries to obtain an understanding of risks and issues as well as trends of non-compliance
support compliance strategies to minimise future risks to revenue
ensure compliance with registration, lodgment, correct reporting and payment of taxation, superannuation and other obligations.

Why we look at real property transactions data

Our real property transactions data-matching program allows us to identify and address a number of tax risks, including:

non-compliance with taxation obligations related to the transfer of real property assets –this may include registration, reporting, lodgment or payment obligations.
lack of taxpayer knowledge of tax obligations as part of information and education campaigns
loss of public revenue.

For more information see:

QC107922