ATO sharpens its focus on your data ahead of tax time 2024

Your Uber, Airbnb, cryptocurrency and property transactions are being tracked in detail as ATO data matching expands further.

New and extended data checks are giving the Australian Taxation Office more teeth to catch cheats during tax time this year.

The ATO’s data matching program is expanding, and now includes more information from side hustle platforms including Uber and Airbnb, insurance companies and investment providers.

New laws started this financial year requiring sharing economy platforms to report transactions to the ATO, beginning with taxi services last July, then ride-sourcing and accommodation platforms since January. From July 1 this year all other platforms, including Uber Eats, Airtasker and storage sharing, must report to the ATO.

The ATO also recently extended its data matching programs in areas such as cryptocurrency transactions, novated leases for cars and rental bonds.

ATO assistant commissioner Rob Thomson said “sophisticated data matching analytics” ran in the background when people did their tax returns, and detected claims that did not look right.

Increased data matching helped the ATO pre-fill more information in peoples’ tax returns, Mr Thomson said.

This included 111 million pieces of individual data in 2023, he said.

“By data matching, last year we did adjust about 499,000 taxpayers’ tax returns.

“We continue to look at what new data sources we can use,” Mr Thomson said.

ATO data matching keeps a close eye on your tax-related moves. Picture: iStock

Chartered accountant and Mr Taxman founder Adrian Raftery said new data matching capabilities were great for the ATO.

“If I was an ATO officer and had access to all this data, I can filter it across different things, do analysis and pinpoint what we want to target,” he said.

This included passenger movement data from the Department of Home Affairs for things such as pensions, non-resident tax rates and HECS/HELP debts, rental properties and investment loans, and capital gains and losses, Dr Raftery said.

It also helped tax agents by pre-filling peoples tax returns with the relevant information, he said.

“You would be surprised how many clients don’t declare that they have sold shares or a property. It makes it easier to get it right on the client’s behalf.

“All we want is a fair tax system. We want everyone to pay everything they should.”

The ATO’s data matching protocols currently include:

• Money movements in and out of Australia.

• Motor vehicle registries.

• Residential investment property loans.

• Australian Electoral Commission information.

• Income protection insurance and private health insurance.

• Visa records from the Department of Home Affairs.

An ATO spokeswoman said data matching programs aimed to increase confidence in the tax system.

“They allow us to reassure the community that we protect honest people and businesses from unfair competition, detect fraud against the Commonwealth and recover debt,” she said.

The recent price surge in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will increase the spotlight on that sector at tax time.

H&R Block director of tax communications Mark Chapman said an increasing number of people were jumping on the crypto bandwagon “and the ATO believes that some of them are failing to declare the profits they are making on their investments”.

Mr Chapman said bulk records from cryptocurrency businesses were being data matched to check purchases and sales.

“The ATO estimates that there are between 500,000 and one million Australians that have invested in crypto assets,” he said.

Originally published as ATO sharpens its focus on your data ahead of tax time 2024