The Inspector-General of Taxation Annual Report 2012-13 has been released. The Inspector-General Ali Noroozi said there has been a gradual shift in the ATO’s perceptions of the IGT and increasingly, the ATO is appreciating that, in addition to being a scrutineer, the IGT’s office “can also play a role as an independent consultant”. Mr Noroozi noted that the Commissioner had recently consulted with him on his proposal to implement an independent review function for certain tax disputes.
The Report said the ATO has instituted an internal assurance function under the auspices of its audit committee that oversees the effective implementation of agreed IGT recommendations. The ATO has further supported this by publishing the agreed IGT recommendations along with their implementation status on its website which is periodically updated.
From time to time, Mr Noroozi said discrete and specific issues are raised with his office which may have merit but do not justify a review in their own right or cannot otherwise be included in a wider review. He said he has begun a process of writing to the ATO advising of such issues and, where possible, developing improvements without the conduct of a formal detailed review.
Mr Noroozi also noted that his office continued to draw on strong ties with other countries’ revenue authorities and associated scrutineer bodies to better inform it of new international developments and potential improvement opportunities for tax administration in Australia.
The report said emerging themes in tax administration included: a bill of rights for taxpayers; the increasing need for valuation work; anti-avoidance; base erosion and profit shifting.
[LTN 209, 29/10/13]