Local government payments in ATO sights
The ATO has previously sought from local government council and shire authorities throughout New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and Tasmania details of entities who provided contractor services in the 2011 and 2012 financial years. The ATO says it will now acquire details of entities receiving taxable payments from local government council and shire authorities throughout the country covering the 2011 to 2014 financial years.
The ATO says it will electronically match the information collected with its own data holdings to identify instances of non-compliance with tax lodgment and payment obligations. Records relating to 20,000 to 40,000 individuals are expected to be matched under the program.
TIP: Be aware of the ATO's use of electronic data-matching to check tax compliance. According to the ATO, most people are willing to meet their tax and superannuation responsibilities. However, the ATO says it uses a range of measures, including electronic data-matching, to identify the small minority of taxpayers who do not fully meet their responsibilities.
