ATO Data Matching more Sophisticated

Under the self-assessment system, a taxpayer has the obligation to disclose all their taxable income to the ATO. If they fail to disclose and are audited then fines may result.

But times they are changing and so is the ATO.  They are changing the system by using technology to check what you say is true at the time of assessment, not after. They currently gather the following information which they crosscheck with your tax return declarations:

  • interest income from the banks
  • trust distributions from the managed funds
  • wages from employers
  • dividends from the share registries

But wait there’s more. They are moving into:

  • share trading history from the share brokers
  • sales records from  eBay
  • property sales from the state revenue offices
  • rental income from property agents
  • income declarations from loan applications
  • car sale records from departments
  • GST and tax audit results to target linked businesses

Yes, they can get access to all of this. And more to come. Every month they announce ever more sources of information gathering and how they are moving closer to a pre-assessment system. Let us assess your risk and discuss how this could affect you.

Author: lucentor

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