5 March 2008

Inspector-General's Report Card Gives ATO Thumbs Up on Improvements to Tax Administration

The Government today released the Inspector-General of Taxation's report "Follow up review into the Tax Office's implementation of agreed recommendations included in the six reports prepared by the Inspector-General of Taxation between August 2003 and June 2006".

The report is the first of two reviews planned by the Inspector-General to examine the Tax Office's implementation of the agreed recommendations from all eleven of the Inspector-General's reports completed to date.

The Tax Office agreed to implement 65 of the 73 recommendations made in the first six reports conducted by the Inspector-General. The Inspector-General's report indicates that the Tax Office has implemented or made significant progress with 62 of the 65 agreed recommendations.

While three recommendations have not been implemented, the Inspector-General notes that these recommendations have been progressed to some extent.

The extent to which the Tax Office has implemented these recommendations, while continuing with its own significant agenda of improvements to tax administration, is a reflection on the Tax Office's openness to scrutiny and its willingness to work cooperatively with external scrutineers to achieve ongoing improvements to the taxation administration system.

The report, which also contains the Tax Office response, is available at www.igt.gov.au.

5 March 2008

Media Contact: James Cullen - 0409 719 879