The House Tax and Revenue Committee will this week undertake the second phase of its review of the performance of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for the 2016–17 tax year.
Tomorrow’s public hearing will be a roundtable discussion with two key bodies representing the tax profession and the CEO of Australia’s small business peak body, important stakeholders in the reinvention of Australia’s taxation services.
The Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) and the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) have responded to the Committee’s call for comments on ATO service delivery and performance during a challenging year. The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) provides a valuable counterpoint, bringing the focus back to small business needs as the streamlining of digital services to the sector continues.
Committee Chair Mr Jason Falinski MP said that since its formation in 2013, the Tax and Revenue Committee has monitored ATO compliance activities and checked outcomes against advice in the ATO’s annual report.
"This year, the Committee has looked for progress in the delivery of upgraded lodgement services to tax professionals and small business, but results appear mixed," Mr Falinski said.
"The Committee has also had calls to move beyond incremental examination to a more strategic review process—to consider in future the overall ‘state of the tax system’, as well as the ATO’s tax administration performance, over the longer term." ---
Mr Jason Falinski MP (Mackellar, NSW)
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue, Chair
