Commissioner’s remedial power process summary

Steps in the CRP process

The following is a summary of the Commissioner's remedial power (CRP) process. This shows the general steps taken for candidates that are suitable for the CRP. For all references to alternate steps in this process, go to Alternate steps for not suitable candidates.

1. The CRP Secretariat receives an application for a potential CRP candidate from either an internal or external source.
2. The CRP Secretariat undertakes an initial triage of the candidate in consultation with relevant ATO stakeholders and makes a provisional assessment of its suitability for the CRP Advisory Panel.
   • If found provisionally suitable – continue to step 3
   • If found provisionally not suitable – move to alternate step 1
3. The CRP Secretariat requests the Department of the Treasury to undertake a budget impact assessment of the candidate.
   • If the budget impact is negligible – continue to step 4
   • If the budget impact is not negligible – move to alternate step 1
4. Representatives from the CRP Advisory Panel are invited to consider the provisional assessment in detail and make a final assessment on the suitability of the candidate for the CRP.
   • If assessed as suitable – continue to step 5
   • If there is disagreement about its suitability – revert to step 2 and continue. The CRP Secretariat will consider all new information when reviewing its original provisional assessment.
5. The CRP Secretariat prepares a draft CRP legislative instrument and explanatory statement. These documents are released for public consultation on the Open Consultation webpage. The CRP Advisory Panel and the Board of Taxation are also invited to provide feedback.
6. The CRP Secretariat considers all feedback from consultation and prepares final draft documents. The CRP Secretariat then recommends the Commissioner (or their delegate) exercise the CRP by making the CRP legislative instrument.
7. The applicant is advised the candidate has been finalised as suitable for the CRP.
8. The CRP legislative instrument is registered and published on the Federal Register of Legislation and is then tabled in both Houses of Parliament.
9. The CRP legislative instrument is subject to a 15-sitting-day disallowance period (in each House of Parliament) and will not apply until this period has concluded. The CRP legislative instrument is also published in our Legal database.
10. When the Commissioner's remedial power has been used will be updated to reflect the outcome.

This concludes the CRP process for candidates that are finalised as suitable for the CRP.

Alternate steps for not suitable candidates

The following are alternate steps in relation to the above process, for candidates that may not be suitable for the CRP.

1. Representatives from the CRP Advisory Panel and the Board of Taxation are invited to consider the candidate to confirm that it is not suitable for the CRP.
   • If confirmed as not unsuitable – continue to alternate step 2
   • If there is disagreement about its suitability – revert to step 2 and continue. The CRP Secretariat will consider all new information when reviewing its original provisional assessment.

2. The applicant is advised that the candidate has been finalised as not suitable for the CRP.
3. When the Commissioner's remedial power has not been used will be updated to reflect the outcome.

This concludes the CRP process for candidates that are finalised as not suitable for the CRP.

CRP Secretariat

The CRP Secretariat is a group of specialised ATO officers that are responsible for administering the CRP process.

A key function of the CRP Secretariat is to undertake a provisional assessment on whether a candidate:

• is not inconsistent with the intended purpose or object of the law
• is reasonable, having regard to
  • the intended purpose or object of the law
  • whether the cost of compliance is disproportionate to that intended purpose or object
• has a negligible budget impact.

The CRP Secretariat shares its provisional assessment with the CRP Advisory Panel.

CRP Advisory Panel

The CRP Advisory Panel is a group of private sector specialists, along with representatives from the ATO and the Department of the Treasury, who are engaged to consider all CRP candidates.

The primary function of the CRP Advisory Panel is to review and analyse advice from the CRP Secretariat (and the Department of the Treasury, where relevant) to assess whether a CRP candidate is suitable for the CRP or not.

The views of the CRP Advisory Panel are shared with the Commissioner (or their delegate) before a candidate is finalised as either suitable or not suitable.

For more information, see Commissioner's remedial power.