Today, Acting Treasurer, Peter Dutton MP, announced details of changes to the taxation law arising out of the Government’s Review of Taxation Secrecy and Disclosure Provisions (the Review).
Tax secrecy and disclosure provisions from 22 different tax acts will be standardised into a new framework within a single piece of legislation. The new framework was developed with the benefit of extensive consultation and numerous submissions received from professional associations, government agencies, business groups and taxpayers.
“Submissions were strongly in favour of standardising the existing tax secrecy provisions in order to provide certainty for taxpayers and users of tax information,” Mr Dutton said.
The standardised secrecy framework will maintain existing disclosures, and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will also now be able to release taxpayer information in limited circumstances where the public interest benefits exceed the impact on taxpayer privacy.
“New disclosures will include allowing the ATO to disclose more information to law enforcement agencies.”
“For example, an important part of tackling organised crime or tracking supporters of terrorist organisations may require releasing information on the specific tax matters of individuals,” Mr Dutton said.
The ATO will also be able to provide additional information to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in support of its role in corporate and insolvency regulation.
The standardisation will be another significant step forward in the Australian Government’s ongoing objective of reducing the complexity and volume of Australia’s tax laws.
The new secrecy and disclosure legislation is expected to be introduced into Parliament in 2007. There will be opportunities to provide input on the draft legislation.
The Review of Taxation Secrecy and Disclosure Provisions discussion paper, along with published submissions, is available at http://www.treasury.gov.au/content/consultations.asp.