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A parliamentary inquiry has made 37 recommendations to ATO in an attempt to adjust the imbalance of power perceived by taxpayers in their engagement with the Tax Office.
The House of Representatives standing committee on tax and revenue's review of the ATO's annual report 2016–17 has resulted in 37 recommendations, many of which question the fairness and functionality of ATO's digital reinvention.
"A primary concern was that the ATO, while meeting the letter of the law, may be failing to communicate the spirit which it says guides its reinvention," committee chair Jason Falinski said.
"This is the value code which underpins commitments articulated in its core vision documents — the Reinvention Program Blueprint, the new 2024 Corporate Plan, and the revised Taxpayers’ Charter."
In the committee’s view, the tax commissioner should strike a note for fairness and respect between the ATO, tax agents, and taxpayers in all his public statements, Mr Falinski explained.
"This guarantee should be consistently extolled and consolidated in all ATO vision documents," he said.
Furthermore, the commission advised that the ATO and Treasury should also consider a structural review of the ATO’s governance models for appeals and its dispute resolution processes.
"Measurable benchmarking, clear and public contracting arrangements and comprehensive performance reportage on fairness and digital functionality are vital supports to taxpayer confidence in the ATO and the tax system," Mr Falinski noted.
"This is more fundamentally important as the digitisation of tax services shifts the onus of proof and the compliance burden back onto taxpayers."
He added that the recommendations made in the report intend to adjust the imbalance of power perceived by taxpayers in their engagement with the ATO, and to ensure that, under the ATO’s reinvention, "willing engagement will be the test for fair treatment".