The ATO says it regularly matches data with health insurers to identify taxpayers who received the private health insurance (PHI) rebate through reduced premiums and have claimed them in their income tax return. When this double claim occurs, the ATO says it automatically amends their assessment to remove the rebate. The ATO says it has reviewed amendments to reverse double claims for the PHI rebate and has identified some that have been made outside the taxpayer’s period of review. Even though these taxpayers were not entitled to make the double claim, the ATO says it will issue a notice of amended assessment. It says this will allow the PHI rebate for amendments to be processed outside the permitted period of review.
[FJM Note: I would have thought that the Commissioner cannot issue amended assessments outside the limits placed on him under s170 of the ITAA 1936. This would not be consistent with allowing amended assessments “outside the period of review” unless the ‘period of review’ is not the same thing as the time limit for amending assessments.]
[LTN 238, 8/12/14]