The website of the Australian Tax Ombudsman
David Vos, Inspector-General of Taxation (IGT), today released an update of his program of potential reviews for 2006. The update takes account of recent IGT consultations with community stakeholders and recent public debate on tax administration matters.
David Vos, Inspector-General of Taxation today appeared in Sydney before the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA) in respect of its “Inquiry Reviewing a Range of Taxation Issues within Australia”.
“The ATO is increasingly providing its services online, but 65% of tax agents say they had problems using these services, so many of them pick the phone and call the ATO’s dedicated registered agent phone line to get help, but the feedback I get from agents is that the service has long wait times and is inconsistent, and that they aren’t confident they will get the right answer when they call, or even the same answer each time they call,” says Ruth Owen, Inspector-General of Taxation. “I think that’s worth investigating.”
The Tax Ombudsman is asking for input and feedback on a shortlist of reviews for the next financial year, after releasing a consultation copy of proposed topics online.
“When I was appointed, I wanted to make the office more transparent and engage the tax profession and the community more closely with the work that we do,” says Tax Ombudsman Ruth Owen, who is also the Inspector-General of Taxation: a statutory role charged with reviewing the Australian Taxation Office’s and Tax Practitioners Board‘s administration of the tax system and making recommendations on possible improvements.
“Our reviews team are very keen to complete more reviews each year into topics that the industry and the public told us mattered to them, and this will be the second year that we have taken this new approach.”
The shortlist of reviews is developed from feedback received throughout the year, data collected from its complaints service and other operations, and previous reviews or recommendations that may be worthy of re-examination or follow-up. This year’s shortlist of 10 topics includes suggestions to review the way the ATO:
“We’ll use the feedback to settle on four topics for investigation next year. Our ‘short, sharp reviews’ approach means we can cover more topics faster and make recommendations more quickly to improve the tax system for everyone,” says Ms Owen.
The public consultation will run until 18 May 2025. To download the consultation paper, visit the draft work plan page of this website. All feedback should be sent by email to [email protected]
A new report by the Inspector-General of Taxation and the Taxation Ombudsman (IGTO) has highlighted how the tax system is being used as a weapon of financial abuse. The report identifies how the ATO, among other organisations, can respond through prevention, detection and support for the victim-survivors.
The newly appointed Inspector-General of Taxation, Ruth Owen, has recommended changes to make it faster and simpler for all taxpayers to lodge an objection with the ATO.
The Inspector-General’s report highlights 4 areas of improvement:
The Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman (IGTO) is concerned about ongoing media reports of increasing instances of tax identity and financial fraud.
Our Office has held recent discussions with complainants and tax practitioners confirming taxpayers have been experiencing heightened instances of identity and financial fraud in relation to their tax affairs and accounts. This includes those relating to the ATO’s systems and processes to address these issues. As a result, the IGTO has commenced an ‘own initiative investigation’ into the important area of Tax Identity Fraud.
The Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman (IGTO) has today released a brief history of the Taxpayers’ Charter. The paper is intended to serve as a thought leadership document to encourage feedback and recommendations from stakeholders about how the Charter could be improved.
The Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman (IGTO) has published a Register of potential topics for review investigations as identified and suggested by various stakeholders, our taxation complaints service and other sources.
The Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman (IGTO) Karen Payne, has today released her latest report comprising an initial review of the Australian Tax Office’s (ATO) handling of objections by taxpayers.
The interim report and summary slide deck “Your taxpayer right to object – the ATO’s administration and management of objections” is Phase 1 of the IGTO’s investigation announced in December 2021, looking into the Australian Taxation Office’s Administration and Management of Objections.