The ATO has announced a data matching program in relation to electronic payments made to businesses through specialised payment systems. For the period 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014, it will collect data from the following businesses:
– Ausfit
– BillBuddy
– Debit Success
– eDebit
– Ezidebit
– EzyPay
– Integrapay
– IP Payments
– Paymate
– PayPal Australia
– PaySmart
– POLi Payments
– Quickpay
– ANZ Bank (BPAY data)
– Commonwealth Bank (BPAY data)
– National Australia Bank (BPAY data)
– St George Bank (BPAY data)
– Westpac (BPAY data)
The ATO says that this data is analysed in conjunction with data collected through its credit and debit card data matching program to assess businesses’ compliance with tax obligations.
The ATO will collect details of merchant and biller business names, contact details, settlement amounts, and transaction records. Records relating to approximately 25,000 individuals will be matched. Those identified as being at risk of potentially running part of their business ‘off-the-books’, or in other ways not reporting all their income, will be asked to explain any discrepancies that are identified.
