Key Points

• The ATO plans to continue to seek out tax dodgers and black economy participants driving luxury cars until at least 2022.
• The ATO’s extension of its data-matching program will see it collect data from state and territory motor vehicle registries, seeking to capture any newly registered or transferred vehicles with a purchase price or market value of $10,000 or more.

Full Article

The ATO plans to continue to seek out tax dodgers and black economy participants driving luxury cars until at least 2022. 

The ATO’s extension of its data-matching program will see it continue to collect data from state and territory motor vehicle registries for the 2019–20, 2020–21 and 2021–22 financial years. Registry records for around 1.5 million individuals are expected to be collected each year, seeking to capture any newly registered or transferred vehicles with a purchase price or market value of $10,000 or more.

According to the ATO, the records will help it to identify:

• Higher-risk taxpayers
• Taxpayers with outstanding lodgments
• Taxpayers with undeclared income whose asset holdings may not be proportionate to their declared income and financial holdings.
• Taxpayers that have purchased vehicles with values that are not commensurate with the income they have reported.

The records will also help inform the ATO whether taxpayers that buy and sell motor vehicles are:

• Meeting their tax and super obligations
• Are compliant with GST, fringe benefits tax, luxury car tax, fuel schemes and income tax obligations.

The ATO will also use the data to understand if sellers, licensed dealers, fleet managers, leasing companies or representatives of these taxpayers use proxy ownership to conceal their real wealth.

Into its 16th year, the data-matching program will acquire a wide range of transaction details that include the vehicle make and model, engine capacity, vehicle identification number and garage address.

Details of individuals involved in the transaction, including their name, address, date of birth and ABN, will also be collected and the data will be retained for five years.

If you have any questions or need advice and clarity specific to your situation, feel free to contact Semmens & Co on 03 8320 0320 for a free consultation.