Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, I present the committee's report entitled Report 424: Eighth biannual hearing with the Commissioner of Taxation.

In accordance with standing order 39(f) the report was made a parliamentary paper.

This is the first report into the biannual hearings with the Commissioner of Taxation from the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit. The hearings are the result of a recommendation made by the committee in Report 410: tax administration. The rationale for the hearings is to provide a mechanism whereby dialogue between the Australian Taxation Office and the parl­iament could be promoted.

Traditionally, the hearings have provided an opportunity for members of the com­mittee to scrutinise issues surrounding tax administration. While there have been public hearings with the Commissioner of Taxation since 2007, no reports have been tabled. The committee in the 43rd Parliament is seeking to expand the parliament's role with regard to the scrutiny of the ATO. Therefore, in a bipartisan way, the committee determined to prepare a report on the biannual hearings to increase scrutiny of the ATO and its transparency to the public.

Integrity in tax administration is a critical foundation block of the Australian taxation system. Whilst evidence suggests that in the majority of cases this is done well, the committee is concerned about the increasing number of complaints about the ATO. In keeping with the goal of increasing scrutiny of the ATO, the committee will be enlarging future biannual hearings to include public evidence from external scrutiny and integrity bodies such as the Ombudsman, the Australian National Audit Office and the Inspector General of Taxation as well as from peak industry and consumer bodies. Each of these integrity bodies has expertise upon which the committee can draw when reviewing the operations of the ATO. In addition to greater scrutiny of the ATO, the committee anticipates that among its key responsibilities will be monitoring proposed changes to the taxation system and working to ensure that the ATO is sufficiently supported and positioned to implement any proposed changes.

In this report the committee has made a number of recommendations that are aimed at ensuring the ATO provides the committee with sufficient and timely advice prior to the next biannual hearing to facilitate improved scrutiny and ultimately lead to better results. The report includes recommendations that the ATO provide the committee with a submission prior to the next biannual hearing that details the number of and reasons for complaints, the activities the ATO is undertaking to ensure compliance with Australian taxation requirements, the input of the ATO into policy implementation and its response to external scrutiny reports and recommendations. The committee looks forward to working with the ATO to build and foster community confidence in the integrity of the Australian tax system. The committee intends this report to open a dialogue with the ATO and to create a foundation upon which future hearings will build. We look forward to continuing and further cultivating a productive relationship with the ATO, one which encourages and promotes scrutiny and transparency and therefore further increases confidence in the ATO's work.

In conclusion, I thank my committee colleagues for their work on this inquiry and the hardworking diligent secretariat of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit for their ongoing work. I also thank representatives of the ATO who made themselves available to attend the hearing. I look forward to a positive response from them to these recommendations and to greater interest and oversight from the 43rd Parliament. There are nine recommendations contained in this report. I do hope the ATO, and the tax commissioner in particular, takes them seriously. I commend the report to the House.

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