In December last year, the Institute made a submission to the Review into the Taxpayers’ Charter and Taxpayer Protections, conducted by the Commonwealth Inspector-General of Taxation.
This review will evaluate the protections taxpayers have against unfair treatment by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), including the effectiveness of the Taxpayers’ Charter, avenues for compensation for loss or damage caused by the ATO, the ATO’s adherence to the Commonwealth model litigant obligations, and the confidentiality and privacy protections in place for when the ATO shares taxpayer information.
The Institute’s submission focused on the ATO’s adherence to the Commonwealth model litigant obligations, found in the Legal Services Directions 2005 (Cth). We argued that:
The Institute also argued that breaches of the model litigant obligations should be reported publicly, in order to ensure transparency and accountability. This reporting should go beyond simple numerical recording of breaches, and should indicate as far as possible the obligation alleged to have been breached, and the factual scenario which gave rise to it.
Download the submission: Submission to the Review into the Taxpayers’ Charter and Taxpayer Protections.
