The ATO holds a wide range of formal and informal information gathering powers at their helm, and it often comes as a surprise how much they actually know about you. This is to the point that they may even view your social media accounts to see if your lifestyle matches the income you declare. They know so much, that you might as well change your facebook relationship status to ‘in a relationship with the ATO’.

So where exactly are they gathering our information from? Their primary source of information about you is from your employer through the annual Income Statement (formally known as PAYG Payment Summaries). But in addition to that, they can also obtain your information from:

• Financial institutions
• Government agencies
• Taxation authorities in other jurisdictions
• Investment managers
• List public entities such as companies and trusts
• Share registries
• Health funds and superannuation funds

It’s well and good to know where our information is coming from, but what information are they holding? Apart from the obvious things like our TFNs, ABNs and contact details, the ATO also collects:

• DOB, occupations, gender, marital status, residency status, names of partners and relatives
• Financial information, bank account and financial institution details
• Shareholding and investment interest details
• Student numbers and institution codes
• Trustee and tax agent details
• Health fund and superannuation fund details
• Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre reports
• Business ownership details, business transaction reports, property ownership and sales data

And now comes the question why? Why is there a need for the ATO to hold all of this information about us? The answer is, for many reasons, not limited to:

• To ensure legitimacy of tax return lodgements
• To ensure taxation and superannuation laws are abided by
• Accuracy of the Australian Business Register
• Verifying functions and activities as an employer or employee
• For proof of identity when you contact the ATO

The ATO is completely transparent about the information they hold about you, so there is no need for you to be constantly looking over your shoulder. Also, personal information is only collected where it is deemed reasonably necessary. So let’s just say that this relationship that you are in with the ATO is an open one, and there is no need to alert your significant other just yet!

Written for you by Keira Borg