Commissioner of Taxation – Notice of lifestyle assets data-matching program 14 July 2021
As of the 4th of July 2021, the ATO will acquire data of lifestyle assets from insurance policies. They will do this through to 2022-2023 for the following assets, if their value is equal to or exceeds the set thresholds:
- Marine vessels - $100,000
- Motor vehicle including caravans - $65,000
- Thoroughbred horses - $65,000
- Fine art - $100,000 per item
- Aircraft - $150,000
What data does the ATO take?
Client details – Such as name, addresses, phone numbers, date of birth, ABN, etc.
Policy details – Such as insured value, policy cost, policy inception date purchase price of the asset, and more.
The ATO estimates that they will obtain records relating to approximately 300,000 individuals each financial year.
What are the benefits of this for the ATO?
The data is going to be used to improve compliance risk profiling and provide a view on taxpayers' wealth. The lifestyle asset data-matching allows for the following taxation risks to be addressed:
- Taxpayers accumulating assets with insufficient income reported in their tax return to afford these
- Capital gains tax – taxpayers disposing of assets and not declaring the capital gain on disposal
- Goods and services tax – taxpayers that are acquiring assets for personal use through their business in order to claim GST credits they are not entitled to
- Fringe benefits tax – taxpayers that may be purchasing assets through their business, however there is no nexus to their business activities. Individuals that use these assets for personal use will be subject to a fringe benefit tax liability
- Self-managed super funds may be acquiring assets but applying them to the benefit of the fund’s trustee or beneficiaries.
What are the objectives of the program?
Goals of the program include:
- Promoting voluntary compliance and increasing confidence in the integrity of the taxation and superannuation systems
- To identify possible compliance issues with income tax, CGT, GST, FBT and super
- Identify and educate individuals and businesses who may be failing to meet their registration or lodgement requirements
- Help ensure individuals and businesses meet their tax and super reporting obligations
- Assist with profiling to provide compliance staff with a complete view of individual taxpayer’s wealth.
For more information or assistance please contact Infinite Accounting Solutions on 02 9899 4730 or via the contact page at www.ias-ca.com.au