ATO motor vehicle data matching program extended

The list of data matching programs the ATO is currently implementing is growing with the extension of the motor vehicles program to the 2022–2023 to 2024–2025 financial years. Information will be acquired from all eight of the state and territory motor registries regarding where a vehicle was transferred or newly registered during applicable financial years where the purchase price or market value is equal to or greater than $10,000. The ATO estimates that records relating to approximately 1.5 million individuals will be obtained each financial year. The ATO has extended its motor vehicles data matching program once again to encompass the 2022–2023 to 2024–2025 financial years. This successful program has been running for 19 years in various iterations, and was developed as a way to assess the overall tax compliance of individuals and businesses involved in buying and selling motor vehicles. 

For each financial year, the ATO will acquire information from all eight of the state and territory motor registries regarding where a vehicle has been transferred or newly registered during the applicable period, and where the purchase price or market value is equal to or greater than $10,000. It is estimated that records relating to approximately 1.5 million individuals will be obtained during each financial year. 

The data obtained will consist of: 

• identification details – names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, Australian business numbers (ABNs) and Australian company numbers (ACNs); whether the seller is a licenced dealer, fleet manager, or leasing company (or representative); and the registering person for an unincorporated body; and
• transaction details – date of transaction, type of transaction, sale price of vehicle, market value of vehicle, vehicle garage address, type of intended vehicle use, vehicle make/model/body type/year of manufacture, engine capacity, tare weight, gross weight, VIN, registration number, transaction receipt number, stamp duty exemption and reason and dealer licence number (if applicable).

While the program is being used to obtain intelligence about taxpayers that buy and sell motor vehicles so the ATO can identify risks and trends of non-compliance with various tax and super obligations, the ATO will also be using the data obtained as an indicator of risk. For example, the motor vehicle data – along with other data holdings – will be used to identify taxpayers who have purchased vehicles with values that do not align with the income they have reported. 

In addition, the data will be used to identify cases for investigation where interposed proxy ownership through other taxpayers such as sellers, licenced dealers, fleet managers, leasing companies or representatives of these taxpayers may be used to conceal the real accumulation of wealth. Other more mundane uses of the data will include the identification of taxpayers who may have not met their obligations in terms of GST, FBT, luxury car tax, fuel schemes and income tax. 

The collection of data under the previous motor vehicles program of the 2016–2017 to 2018–2019 financial years was conducted between May 2018 and January 2020, and an exemption was granted by the Privacy Commissioner to retain that data for three years. The data to be obtained in the 2022–2023 to 2024–2025 financial years will be retained for five years from the receipt of the final instalment and used in multiple risk models, including models that establish retrospective profiles over multiple years. 

According to the ATO, the data is used in conjunction with other data sources in its risk detection models and profiling tools to generate compliance actions for review. In cases where taxpayers identified from the data matching program fail to meet their obligations in terms of tax, super, FBT, GST and so on even after being prompted and reminded, referrals may be initiated to relevant areas for appropriate treatment and escalation for prosecution action.

Source: www.ato.gov.au/General/Gen/Motor-vehicle-registries---2016-17-to-2024-25-data-matching-program-protocol/ 
www.ato.gov.au/About-ATO/Commitments-and-reporting/In-detail/Privacy-and-information-gathering/How-we-use-data-matching/