We are authorised by the Taxation Administration Act 1953 to ask for your tax file number (TFN). We will use your TFN to identify you in our records. It's not an offence not to provide your TFN but if you don't there may be a delay processing the declaration.
We are also authorised by the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 and the Tax Administration Act 1953 to ask for other information the Tax file number declaration. We need it to help us administer tax law. If your form is incomplete, incorrect or needs checking, it may affect the amount of tax withheld from payments made to you.
Where authorised by law, we may give this information to other government departments and agencies, including:
- Department of Education
- Department of Employment
- Department of Social Services
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Australian Bureau of Statistics
- Law Enforcement Agencies
- Services Australia.
We may check the proof of identity information you supply with the issuing agencies.
We also provide taxpayer information to treaty partners overseas under international tax agreements.
Our privacy policy contains important information about your privacy, including information about how you can access and seek correction of information we hold about you, how to make a complaint if you think we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles and how we will deal with any privacy complaints.
If you have a privacy concern or need more information, phone or write to our privacy hotline.
To report an instance where you suspect your privacy has been compromised, see Data breach guidance for individuals.