Tax Data Grab

The government has introduced a bill that would allow federal, state and territory agencies to use tax data when determining eligibility for relief payments during “major” disasters.

The newly proposed data sharing arrangements are contained in the ‘Treasury Laws Amendment (2022 Measures No. 3) Bill 2022’.

Under the current Taxation Administration Act 1953, an ATO officer can’t disclose certain types of information to other agencies.

This is information that relates to the “affairs of an entity and identifies, or is reasonably capable of being used to identify, the entity.”

In an explanatory memorandum, the government said it wants to “amend the tax secrecy provisions in the TAA 1953 to allow tax information to be disclosed to Australian government agencies for the purposes of administering major disaster support programs.” 

It defines administration in broad terms: coordinating payments, as well as auditing them, although notes these responsibilities could ultimately fall to different agencies.

- CyberBeat