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Agency overview | |
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Formed | 11 November 1910 |
Preceding agencies |
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Jurisdiction | Australian Government |
Headquarters | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory |
Employees | 20,384 (June 2016) [1] |
Annual budget | ![]() |
Minister responsible | |
Deputy Minister responsible |
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Agency executive |
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Parent department | The Treasury |
Key document | |
Website | ato |
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is an Australian statutory agency and the principal revenue collection body for the Australian Government. The ATO has responsibility for administering the Australian federal taxation system, superannuation legislation, and other associated matters. Responsibility for the operations of the ATO are within the portfolio of the Treasurer of Australia and the Treasury.
As the Australian government's principal revenue collection body, the ATO collects income tax, goods and services tax (GST) and other federal taxes. The ATO also has responsibility for managing the Australian Business Register, delivering the Higher Education Loan Program, delivering many Australian government payments and administering key components of Australia's superannuation system. [3]
During the colonial period of the 1800s, a number of landholders had secured large tracts of arable land in Australia. After the states federated in 1901 to form the Commonwealth of Australia, the Commonwealth's main source of revenue was derived from indirect customs and the excise on duties on locally manufactured and imported goods. The Labor Andrew Fisher government was elected at the 1910 federal election and was concerned about large swathes of the country being under-utilised. The government introduced the first federal tax laws – the Bank Notes Tax Act 1910 , the Land Tax Act 1910 and the Land Tax Assessment Act 1910 – to break up the large estates. [4]
George McKay was appointed the first Commissioner of Land Taxation on 11 November 1910. [4] The first tax return forms were issued on 10 January 1911 so that landholders could be assessed for their land tax liabilities. [4] The tax was not popular, but a High Court of Australia challenge to the land tax found the law to be constitutional. [4] The associated land valuations were contentious with more than 1,800 appeals and objections received by the middle of 1913. [4]
In his first year, commissioner McKay had underneath him 105 tax officers, assessed approximately 15,000 land tax returns and collected £1.3 million to £1.4 million. Over the next decade, the government introduced several new taxes, mainly to cope with the massive cost of Australia's collecting revenue to fund participation in World War I. By the end of the decade, the department employed 1,565 people and collected approximately £10.45 million in taxes. [4]
According to its 2013–14 Annual Plan, the ATO employs an average of 22,022 people. [5] In the 2012–13 financial year, the ATO collected revenues totalling $313.082 billion in individual income tax, company income tax, goods and services (GST) tax, excise and others. [6]
Former employee Richard Boyle has alleged that there was a culture within the ATO to increase the use of garnishee notices, which allow the ATO to access funds in the bank accounts of taxpayers. [7] This was investigated by the Inspector-General of taxation, Ali Noroozi. [8] Noroozi's findings included concerns that small businesses were not given enough time to react to a garnishee notice before having their funds seized. [9] The ATO was criticised for attempting to suppress Boyle's revelations with a non-disclosure agreement and accusing him of 66 offences related to breach of privacy. [10]
The ATO was the first Australian Government agency to introduce a virtual assistant using artificial intelligence on its website (see Artificial intelligence in government). [11]
Rob Heferen was appointed Commissioner of Taxation and Registrar of the Australian Business Register on 1 March 2024. [12]
The Australian Taxation Office has been headed by thirteen Commissioners of Taxation:
The Commissioner of Taxation is responsible for the general administration of the tax system and the ATO. The Commissioner of Taxation and three Second Commissioners of Taxation are each appointed for a term of seven years. The Commissioner and Second Commissioners are eligible for re-appointment after each term. [13]
The overall strategic direction of the organisation is set by the ATO Executive Committee, which is composed of the Commissioner, three Second Commissioners, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Service Delivery Officer, and Chief Finance Officer. These roles are currently held by;
Furthermore, the ATO's operations are managed through five groups which are led by members of the executive. These groups are:
Groups are further divided into business and service lines (BSLs) which are responsible for the delivery of group priorities.
The Commissioner of Taxation is required to prepare and release an annual report each financial year. The annual report outlines the ATO's performance and achievements for each financial year.
Table 1.1 ATO net tax collections 2008–09 FY to 2012–13 FY (in $m) [6]
Financial year | 2008–09 | 2009–10 | 2010–11 | 2011–12 | 2012–13 |
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Total tax revenue | 264,534 | 253,189 | 272,976 | 301,024 | 313,082 |
Capital gain is an economic concept defined as the profit earned on the sale of an asset which has increased in value over the holding period. An asset may include tangible property, a car, a business, or intangible property such as shares.
A pay-as-you-earn tax (PAYE), or pay-as-you-go (PAYG) in Australia, is a withholding of taxes on income payments to employees. Amounts withheld are treated as advance payments of income tax due. They are refundable to the extent they exceed tax as determined on tax returns. PAYE may include withholding the employee portion of insurance contributions or similar social benefit taxes. In most countries, they are determined by employers but subject to government review. PAYE is deducted from each paycheck by the employer and must be remitted promptly to the government. Most countries refer to income tax withholding by other terms, including pay-as-you-go tax.
The Canada Revenue Agency is the revenue service of the Canadian federal government, and most provincial and territorial governments. The CRA collects taxes, administers tax law and policy, and delivers benefit programs and tax credits. Legislation administered by the CRA includes the Income Tax Act, parts of the Excise Tax Act, and parts of laws relating to the Canada Pension Plan, employment insurance (EI), tariffs and duties. The agency also oversees the registration of charities in Canada, and enforces much of the country's tax laws.
The Australian Business Number (ABN) is a unique 11-digit identifier issued by the Australian Business Register (ABR) which is operated by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The ABN was introduced on 1 July 2000 by John Howard's Liberal government as part of a major tax reform, which included the introduction of a GST.
Michael Joseph Carmody is a retired senior Australian public servant. He was the Commissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia from January 1993 to 31 December 2005 and the chief executive officer of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service until 4 September 2012.
Revenue NSW is an administrative division of the Government of New South Wales that has responsibility for collecting New South Wales taxes. It was rebranded from the Office of State Revenue (OSR) and its fines division the State Debt Recovery Office (SDRO) on 31 July 2017. It was formerly an administrative division of the New South Wales Department of Customer Service until 6 July 2020, when it became a stand-alone division of the department.
The constitutional basis of taxation in Australia is predominantly found in sections 51(ii), 90, 53, 55, and 96, of the Constitution of Australia. Their interpretation by the High Court of Australia has been integral to the functioning and evolution of federalism in Australia.
Income tax in Australia is imposed by the federal government on the taxable income of individuals and corporations. State governments have not imposed income taxes since World War II. On individuals, income tax is levied at progressive rates, and at one of two rates for corporations. The income of partnerships and trusts is not taxed directly, but is taxed on its distribution to the partners or beneficiaries. Income tax is the most important source of revenue for government within the Australian taxation system. Income tax is collected on behalf of the federal government by the Australian Taxation Office.
Superannuation in Australia or "super" is a savings system for workplace pensions in retirement. It involves money earned by an employee being placed into an investment fund to be made legally available to fund members upon retirement. Employers make compulsory payments to these funds at a proportion of their employee's wages. From July 2023, the mandatory minimum "guarantee" contribution is 11%, rising to 12% from 2025. The superannuation guarantee was introduced by the Hawke government to promote self-funded retirement savings, reducing reliance on a publicly funded pension system. Legislation to support the introduction of the superannuation guarantee was passed by the Keating Government in 1992.
Bottom of the harbour tax avoidance was a form of tax avoidance used in Australia in the 1970s. Legislation made it a criminal offence in 1980. The practice came to symbolise the worst of variously contrived tax strategies from those times.
A deputy commissioner is a police, income tax or administrative official in many countries. The rank is commonplace in police forces of Commonwealth countries, usually ranking below the Commissioner.
Income taxes are the most significant form of taxation in Australia, and collected by the federal government through the Australian Taxation Office. Australian GST revenue is collected by the Federal government, and then paid to the states under a distribution formula determined by the Commonwealth Grants Commission.
The Department of the Treasury, also known as The Treasury, is the national treasury and financial department of the federal government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The treasury is responsible for executing economic and fiscal policy, market regulation and the delivery of the federal budget with the department overseeing 16 agencies. The Treasury is one of only two departments that have existed continuously since Federation in 1901, the other being the Department of the Attorney-General.
The Indian Revenue Service, often abbreviated as IRS, is a civil service that is primarily responsible for collecting and administering direct and indirect taxes. As a central civil service under Group A of the executive branch of the Government of India, it functions under the Department of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance and is under the administrative direction of the Revenue Secretary and the ministerial command of the Minister of Finance.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax law. It is an agency of the Department of the Treasury and led by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, who is appointed to a five-year term by the President of the United States. The duties of the IRS include providing tax assistance to taxpayers; pursuing and resolving instances of erroneous or fraudulent tax filings; and overseeing various benefits programs, including the Affordable Care Act.
Michael Cranston is a former Australian public servant who was a deputy commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
Commissioner of Taxation v La Rosa was a 2003 decision of the Federal Court of Australia, sitting as the Full Court of the Federal Court. The court upheld two earlier rulings that Frank La Rosa, a convicted heroin dealer, was entitled to a tax deduction of $220,000 for money stolen from him during a drug deal. As a result of the decision, the federal government amended the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to prevent similar deductions being made.
The Indian Revenue Service , often abbreviated to IRS (Customs&CentralExcise) or IRS (Customs&IndirectTaxes), now called IRS(Customs&GST) is a part of central civil service of the Government of India. It functions under the Department of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance and is under the administrative direction of the Revenue Secretary and the ministerial command of the Minister of Finance. The IRS is primarily responsible for collecting and administering indirect taxes accruing to the Government of India. It is one of the largest civil service amongst the organised civil services in the Indian government and serves the nation through discharging sovereign functions of collection of revenue for development, security and governance.
The Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) (IAST: Bhāratīya Rājasva Sevā), often abbreviated as IRS (IT), is the administrative revenue service of the Government of India. As a Central Service, it functions under the Department of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance and is under the administrative direction of the Revenue Secretary and the ministerial command of the Minister of Finance. The IRS is primarily responsible for collecting and administering direct taxes accruing to the Government of India.
The North Carolina Department of Revenue was created in 1921 by the North Carolina General Assembly. The department is headed by a Secretary that is appointed by the Governor. The secretary is a member of the North Carolina Cabinet. Currently, the department is responsible for administering the collection of the North Carolina state income tax, gasoline tax, sales tax, beverage tax, and inheritance tax.