Section A: Taxpayer details
This section provides details of who the advice is for. Complete the fields for as many taxpayers as required.
Is this taxpayer an individual or an entity?
An entity can be a company, partnership, trust or super fund. Where you're seeking advice about indirect taxes (GST, wine tax or the luxury car tax), an entity can also be a member or representative member of a GST group, or a participant in a GST joint venture.
Is this taxpayer registered for GST?
If yes, indicate whether the business is registered as a GST branch, and if so the details of the parent entity.
Section B: Contact details
Provide the details of the person we can contact if we have questions about the application.
Indicate the preferred contact method (noting the message about email contact) and how the form will be lodged. If the contact person is not the individual or entity the advice will apply to, specify if they are authorised to act for the taxpayer in this matter.
If you're a tax professional, include your registered agent number and practice name.
Section C: Application details
- What interactions have you have had with the ATO for the issues raised in the application
- What is the subject of the advice
- What is the period or periods this application applies for
What interactions have you had with the ATO for the issues raised in this application?
If an audit has taken place or you've been notified of a proposed audit, include the ATO reference number and the name of the tax officer involved (if known).
If you've asked for oral or written advice or a ruling on any of the issues that you're now seeking advice on, include the ATO reference number and the date of the ruling or advice.
Otherwise, select 'No interactions'.
What is the subject of the advice?
Select the relevant subject or subjects of your advice or select ‘Other’ if it isn't listed.
What is the period or periods this application applies for?
Provide the income years or other accounting periods to be covered by the advice.
Section D: Your ruling
- What type of application would you like to submit
- If you give information about the facts and circumstances
- If you provide your own detailed reasoning
What type of application would you like to submit?
You can choose to either:
- provide information about the facts for us to determine the advice
- include your own detailed reasoning and legislative references to support your application, if you are confident in how the law applies.
Providing information about the facts and circumstances
You'll need to provide the following:
- List the questions you want us to address. Structure them to allow a 'yes' or 'no' answer. An example is 'Will the travel be an allowable deduction?'. We can only give advice about specific tax laws or on certain topics.
- Include a full description of the facts or circumstances – all facts, assumptions, transaction dates and names of other parties actively involved. These details need to be reasonably certain.
- You may need to include an assumption if both of the following apply
- An issue requires you to know or assert a fact.
- It is impossible to verify the fact with reasonable certainty.
- If you include an assumption, also include the reason why you made the assumption.
- Include any:
- other information about how you think the law applies to the scheme
- research and analysis you have done.
You can find details of what to include for many categories of private ruling applications. Include this information or relevant extracts from the documents in your description.
Providing your own detailed reasoning
You can choose to provide your detailed reasoning on the form itself or attach a separate document. For help developing and formatting this reasoning, see ATO staff style guide for private rulings and Ruling examples.
If you're providing your own reasoning (either on the form or separately), you should detail the following:
- List and number the questions you want us to address. Include the relevant legislative provision and structure it to allow a 'yes' or 'no' answer. An example is 'Will the travel be an allowable deduction under section 8-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997?' We can only give advice about specific tax laws or on certain topics.
- Record a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer for each question you have raised.
- Provide a full description of the relevant facts or circumstances. Include all material facts, assumptions, transaction dates and the names of other parties actively involved. These details need to be reasonably certain as they will define the scheme that is the subject of the advice.
- The relevant facts or circumstances can be an outline of steps in a proposed transaction. Material facts are facts that determine how the provision applies or does not apply. Our website provides details of supporting information that is required for many categories of private ruling applications. You should ensure you provide this information or include relevant extracts from the documents in your description.
- Do not include subjective judgment or opinions or statements that are subject to contention.
- You may need to include an assumption where an issue requires you to know or assert a fact, and it is impossible to verify the fact with reasonable certainty. If you have to include an assumption, you should also include the reason why you made the assumption.
- List the legislative provisions the advice will be covering.
- A reason for decision is required for each question in the advice application. This should contain
- a summary that gives a brief statement of the decision, for example, 'the travel will be an allowable deduction under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997'
- detailed reasoning on how you reached the answers to your questions. For example, start with the relevant legislation, case law and any published views or rulings by the Commissioner of Taxation.
Apply the facts and circumstances outlined above to these authorities to arrive at a conclusion.
Section E: Declaration
You must sign the declaration if you're lodging the application by fax or post.
If you're lodging the application by Online services for business or Online services for agents, type your name into the box.
Section F: How to lodge your application
Note that fax or post options will not appear unless you selected fax or post in section B. Alternatively online service options will not appear unless you selected this option in section B.
If you are lodging by fax or post, select the entity type that corresponds to the option you chose in section A of the form.