Commissioner of Taxation

Notice of a data matching program

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will request and collect account details of bank customers to identify Australian resident taxpayers with offshore bank accounts which may evidence undeclared income and / or gains for the years ended 30 June 2012 to 2015 from the following sources:

• Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited
• Bank of China (Australia) Limited
• Bank of China Limited
• Credit Suisse AG
• Deutsche Bank Aktiengessellschaft
• HSBC Bank Australia Limited
• Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited
• Investec Bank (Australia) Limited
• Macquarie Bank Limited
• Rabobank Australia Limited
• Rabobank Nederland
• UBS AG
• Citibank, N.A.
• Citigroup Pty Limited

It is difficult to estimate the total number of offshore records that will be obtained under this program, however, we anticipate there will be approximately 50,000 records.

These records will be electronically matched with certain sections of ATO data holdings to identify non-compliance with registration, lodgment, reporting and payment obligations under taxation laws.

This program is called the Banking Transparency Strategy data matching program and is purpose is to identify taxpayers who are not complying with their taxation obligations by comparing data reported by taxpayers with data on offshore accounts provided by financial institutions. Its objectives are to:

• Assist the ATO to build an understanding of taxpayer behaviour in international dealings, develop compliance profiles and improve fraud detection models
• Identify taxpayers who are not reporting all of their income
• Identify Australian resident taxpayers who may be outside the tax system
• Increase transparency of the worldwide dealings of Australian resident taxpayers
• Help to develop and implement administrative strategies to improve voluntary compliance through education, audit, lodgment enforcement and debt collection activities
• Promote voluntary compliance and strengthen community confidence in the integrity of the tax system.

A document describing this program has been prepared in consultation with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. A copy of this document is available:

• at www.ato.gov.au/dmprotocols
• by sending an email to SpecialPurposeDataSteward@ato.gov.au

The ATO complies with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s The use of data matching in Commonwealth administration – guidelines (2014) which includes standards for data matching to protect the privacy of individuals. A full copy of the ATO’s privacy policy can be accessed at www.ato.gov.au/privacy