Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue, I present the committee's report entitled 2016 annual report of the Australian Taxation Office: Performance review 2015-16 together with the minutes of proceedings.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—I am pleased to present today the Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue's review of the Australian Taxation Office's 2016 annual report, and of the ATO performance over 2015-16.

It has been an important year for the ATO, one in which its digital transformation under the reinvention program has accelerated.

Tax time 2016 was an important test for progress. The ATO reported a steady increase in online lodgements. By November 2016, nearly all individual and non-individual tax returns lodged had been made online, with 85 per cent of business activity statements also made this way.

The digitisation of ATO services is a major part of the reinvention strategy, but it is not all. As tax commissioner Chris Jordan told the committee, most Australians voluntarily comply with their tax obligations, if they know what they are and how to do so. Rather than prioritising enforcement, the ATO is now investing in early interaction with taxpayers to promote compliance.

Over 2015-16, the ATO rolled out a suite of online supports to self-assessors while also working closely with tax professionals, small business and software developers to design and deliver compatible lodgement and processing systems. For those without or unused to digital access, a suite of alternative services are available.

The ATO also invested in data analytics to identify those in the community who may be less likely to meet their commitments. This research supports the ATO efforts to reduce the scale of the tax and revenue gap across the different market segments.

The committee congratulates the ATO on its very significant progress over this reporting period. Nonetheless, in this review, the committee has determined a need for more comprehensive performance reporting from the ATO in a number of key areas—benchmarking the digital transition and system functionality; staff deployment and compliance accountability; fairness in ATO decision making and debt collection; and fast-tracking assessment of the size and nature of the revenue gap.

The committee has made overall 14 recommendations in its report, a landmark in number compared with past ATO reviews. This responds to the scale and scope of the tax office's 'reinvention', and will allow for the results of the reforms to be better gauged over time.

Finally, I would like to draw attention to the relevance of the evidence taken during this review to the committee's ongoing inquiry into taxpayer engagement with the tax system. Under this broad mandate, the committee will investigate the work that the ATO is doing on the cash economy, and to identify drivers and antidotes to its proliferation.

I would to like to thank committee members, witnesses and members of the secretariat for their contribution to this review, and look forward to further discussion with stakeholders in coming months. I commend the report to the House.