Metric |
Description |
Measure |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Number of complaints received |
1.2 |
2 |
Adjusted median cost to individual taxpayers of managing their tax affairs |
1.3 |
3 |
Reduction in the administrative cost to businesses and government in dealing with each other |
1.3 |
4 |
Proportion of inbound transactions received digitally for key services |
1.2 |
5 |
Key digital systems availability |
1.2 |
6 |
Service commitment – 85% of complaints received are resolved in 15 business days, or within the date negotiated with the client |
2.2 |
7 |
Service commitment – 80% of private rulings are finalised in |
2.2 |
8 |
Elapsed time in days for private rulings |
2.1, 2.2 |
9 |
Average cycle times for objections |
2.2 |
10 |
Cost to collect $100 |
3.1 |
11 |
Total revenue effects – Tax revenue from all compliance activities |
3.1, 3.2, 3.3 |
12 |
Increased use of the ABR as the national business dataset |
4.3 |
13 |
Proportion of ABN applicants obtaining a decision online at the point of application |
4.2 |
14 |
Tax returns – Proportion of pre-filled data items unchanged |
4.2, 4.3 |
Results – outcome-based metrics
Metric |
Result |
||
|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|
Number of complaints received |
19,826 |
24,778 |
24,740 |
The ATO continues to focus on improving the experience of our clients. Complaints, feedback, and compliments provide valuable insights that help us to enhance our services. The ATO’s delivery of the COVID-19 stimulus measures, which benefited millions of Australians, had a flow-on effect to complaints. During 2020–21, we received around 6,300 complaints related to these measures. In total, we received 24,740 complaints in 2020–21; almost equalling the 2019–20 figure of 24,778 (which was also affected by COVID-19).
We met our service commitment target, with a complaint finalisation result of 86% resolved in 15 business days or within the date negotiated with the client.
Complaints continue to represent a very small proportion of our interactions with clients. Of the 19.5 million tax returns lodged annually, about 0.1% of our interactions resulted in complaints.
Metric |
Result |
||
|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|
Adjusted median cost to individual taxpayers of managing their tax affairs (2020–21 performance target: Remain steady) |
Unchanged(1) on prior year result |
2.5% decrease
(2018–19 |
3.0% decrease(2)
(2019–20 |
Note 2: The calculation changed in 2020–21 to include only the ‘Other expenses incurred in managing tax affairs’ component of the relevant income tax return label. Using the previous method, the adjusted median is a 2.4% decrease.
This measure shows any movement in the cost to individual taxpayers of managing their tax affairs.
The adjusted(3) median cost of managing tax affairs for 2019–20 income tax returns decreased by 3.0% compared to the previous year(4) and the performance target is considered to be fully met.
Taxpayers who do not report an amount at the relevant label in the tax return are not captured in this calculation. However, over recent years, the ratio of taxpayers claiming cost of managing tax affairs to the individual taxpayer lodging population has been declining.
The cost of managing tax affairs includes the costs of preparing and lodging tax returns and activity statements, fees paid to tax advisers, and the costs of tax reference material. While external market forces can influence these, our strategies for making it easier to comply through the provision of better guidance and advice and contemporary and digital services also influence this trend.
Note 3: AWOTE – average weekly ordinary time earnings (for full-time adults) – is used to adjust these costs.Note 4: Calculation of median cost changed in 2020–21 to include only the ‘Other expenses incurred in managing tax affairs’ component of the relevant label in the income tax return. In previous years, the calculation additionally incorporated interest charged by the ATO, as well as litigation costs.
Metric |
Result |
||
|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|
Reduction in the administrative cost to businesses and government in dealing with each other (2020–21 performance target: $1.98 billion) |
$1.55 billion |
$1.95 billion |
$2.11 billion |
The annual calculation of the reduction in the administrative cost to businesses and government in dealing with each other is an estimate that is derived using a methodology that is regularly independently reviewed and updated with actual figures. The latest review of the figures and methodology was undertaken in 2020–21. The annual savings estimated for the 2020–21 financial year are $2.1 billion, an increase of 7.7% on the previous savings of $1.95 billion.
The result indicates that the ABR program initiatives continue to deliver savings to business and government through reducing the reporting burden, minimising cost to business and enhancing business interactions through natural-based systems.
Metric |
Result |
||
|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|
Proportion of inbound transactions received digitally for key services (2020–21 performance target: 90%) |
89% |
91% |
94% |
In 2020–21, 94% of inbound transactions were received digitally for key services, an increase of 3 percentage points on the previous year.
Online lodgment of the taxable payments annual report (TPAR) increased by 19 percentage points over the same period, due to flow-through effects of the TPAR online form introduced in June 2019.
Online payment arrangements continue to increase, and this year’s result is 4 percentage points higher than 2019–20.
Significant drops in client-initiated role cancellations were experienced from July 2020 as a result of declining economic activity due to COVID-19. The year-on-year drop of approximately 22% peaked in early 2021. Role cancellation rates returned to usual levels by June 2021.
Metric |
Result |
||
|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|
Key digital systems availability (2020–21 performance target: 99.5% excluding planned outages) |
99.5% |
99.7% |
99.9% |
Measuring availability of our digital systems ensures we understand the reliability of services for clients interacting digitally. In 2020–21, the overall result was 99.91% (99.9% when rounded to one decimal place), a 0.2 percentage point increase from the previous year and exceeding the current availability target.
The methodology for this measure comprises the availability of seven externally facing and two internal-facing key IT systems. Availability is the comparison between planned availability and actual availability of a system for users.
For external-facing systems used by our clients and partners (community, tax and superannuation professionals, and software developers), the average availability was 99.89%. For internally facing systems used by staff, the average availability was 99.98%.
Metric |
Result |
||
|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|
Service commitment – 85% of complaints received are resolved in 15 business days, or within the date negotiated with the client |
88% |
83% |
86% |
Although there was a continuation in the high number of complaints received (over 24,700 in 2019–20 and 2020–21 compared with around 19,200 in 2018–19), the flexibility of the ATO’s front-line resources enabled us to adjust our efforts and redirect resources where needed. This saw a complaint finalisation result of 86% resolved in 15 business days or within the date negotiated, exceeding our target of 85%.
Metric |
Result |
||
|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|
Service commitment – 80% of private rulings are finalised in 28 calendar days of receiving all necessary information |
88% |
88% |
81% |
81% of private rulings were finalised in 28 calendar days of receiving all necessary information, slightly below previous years’ results, but still exceeding the target of 80%.
This demonstrates that the ATO continues to provide taxpayers with timely assistance and certainty on complex matters to enable them to meet their obligations.
Metric |
Result |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Average days |
Median days |
||||||
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
||
Elapsed time in days for private rulings |
76 |
92 |
114 |
52 |
64 |
86 |
|
There was an increase in both the average and median number of elapsed days to finalise a private ruling compared to 2019–20. In 2020–21 a combination of factors has placed upward pressure on the time taken to provide private rulings, including:
- Interpretative assistance resources responding to priority advice areas including the changing COVID-19 environment and government stimulus measures
- the increasingly complex nature of private ruling applications and sourcing all required information from the client in order to finalise the request
- clients facing multiple external pressures such as supporting their business in a COVID-19 environment.
Metric |
Result |
||
|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|
Average cycle times for objections (no 2020–21 performance target) |
76 days |
101 days |
97 days |
The average cycle time for objections has decreased since the prior year. The median cycle time also decreased from 69 days in 2019–20 to 49 days in 2020–21. In the 2020–21 year we received a higher number of objections (29,877) than in other recent years and about 40% of these were stimulus-related. The ATO prioritised the completion of stimulus-related objections due to the significant impact to taxpayers. Overall, stimulus objections had an average cycle time of 44 days, whereas non-stimulus objections had an average cycle time of 133 days.
Metric |
Result |
||
|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|
Cost to collect $100 (2020–21 performance target: consistent with trend) |
$0.71 (incl GST) $0.64 (excl GST) |
$0.66 (incl GST) $0.62 (excl GST) |
$0.57 (incl GST) $0.54 (excl GST) |
The cost of collection measures the cost of collecting every $100 of cash collections.
The cost to collect $100 decreased from $0.62 in 2019–20 to $0.54 in 2020–21, excluding GST and its administration costs. The decrease is largely due to a 10% increase in collections in 2020–21 and a 4% decrease in costs associated with collecting tax.
The decrease in costs associated with collecting tax was due to the ATO’s continued response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Support of the government stimulus measures continued in the first quarter of 2020–21, with work returning to usual business activities in the second half of the year.
The significant increase in revenue resulted from the recovery in economic conditions and strong commodity prices. The fluctuations in revenue experienced over the last two years is expected to settle and move back towards pre-pandemic levels as the economy continues to recover. Uneven economic recovery may result in an unstable cost of collection ratio in the proceeding years.
Metric |
Result |
||
|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|
Total revenue effects (tax revenue from all compliance activities) (2020–21 performance target: |
$15.3 billion |
$13.7 billion |
$11.5 billion |
The total revenue effects measure is an estimate of the additional tax revenue that comes from our client engagement activities and is a combination of audit yield and wider revenue effects. In 2020–21, total revenue effects was expanded to also include the reduction and collection of overpayments from administered stimulus programs.
Total revenue effects continued to be affected this year by a range of factors relating to COVID-19, including taxpayers’ ability to pay, our cautious approach to compliance, applying penalties and interest, debt recovery, and our focus on supporting the Australian community in delivering the government’s stimulus measures. In 2020–21, total revenue effects was $11.5 billion against a performance target of $15 billion.
Metric |
Result |
||
|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|
Increased use of the ABR as the national business dataset
(2020–21 performance target: Community - 1.5 billion ABN Lookups) |
368 agencies using ABR Explorer (18% increase) 17 agencies using ABR connect 1.445 billion ABN Lookup searches (40% increase) |
405 agencies using ABR Explorer (10% increase) 27 agencies using ABR connect (58% increase) 1.519 billion ABN Lookup searches (5% increase) |
407 agencies using ABR Explorer 29 agencies using ABR connect 1.821 billion ABN Lookup searches (20% increase) |
The consumption of ABR data by government agencies and the community continues to increase through a variety of channels, including ABR Explorer, ABR Connect and ABN Lookup.
In 2020–21 we exceeded all targets for the increased use of the ABR as a national business dataset, with the number of agencies using ABR Explorer increasing to 407. This result was achieved while transitioning users to myGovID as the access and authentication method for ABR data, replacing AUSkey.
The number of agencies using ABR Connect increased to 29 agencies in 2020–21. ABN Lookup searches increased to 1.8 billion, an increase of 20% over the previous year. ABN Lookup contributes to public value as a key data and information source for decision-making purposes. It is used by information brokers, businesses, government entities and the community – for example, to check who a business or person is dealing with and to pre-fill forms.
We support the increased use of ABR data by working with government agencies to provide them with access to customised ABR datasets that support service delivery, planning, and policy development. This year we supported many agencies across all levels of government to respond to natural disasters and COVID-19 – for example making sure businesses are eligible for stimulus payments by validating their ABN and GST status.
Metric |
Result |
||
|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|
Proportion of ABN applicants obtaining a decision online at the point of application (2020–21 performance target: 80%) |
96.5% |
96.0% |
95.0% |
The proportion of ABN applicants obtaining a decision online at the point of application was 94.95%. This result is a minor decrease of 1% on 2019–20 result and was due to placing a higher level of scrutiny over ABN applications to ensure the integrity of COVID-19 economic stimulus measures. However, we still exceeded the target of 80% by 15%.
There is a cost to both businesses and government as a result of delays in issuing ABNs:
- Businesses can experience a loss of income, delays in being able to invoice clients for work done and loss of accessing business discounts.
- Government impacts can include lost taxation revenue and additional welfare payments while clients are waiting for their ABN to commence their business.
Changes to the ABN application process were implemented in March 2019. These changes were designed to assist applicants to understand their entitlement to an ABN and their obligations. This helps deter those applicants who are not entitled and reduce reverse workflow in cancelling these at a later point if they are not entitled to an ABN. These changes have increased the accuracy of data on the register, resulting in savings for businesses and government agencies using this data. These changes did not materially impact applicants obtaining a decision online at the point of application as ineligible applicants are refused on the spot.
This continues to demonstrate the improvements in the process used by businesses in applying for an ABN, in particular a reduction in delays and the associated reduction in lost income arising from these delays.
Metric |
Result |
||
|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|
Tax returns - Proportion of pre-filled data items unchanged (2020–21 performance target: 85%) |
87.9% |
87.1% |
89.5% |
This year’s result of 89.5% for pre-filled data items unchanged is an increase of 2.4% on the previous year and is partly attributed to introducing a small tolerance for minor rounding and calculation errors. It is also partly due to our work with key reporters to ensure they provide quality data as early as possible.
The economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a significant number of early lodgments in July 2020, as taxpayers sought to receive their 2019–20 tax return refunds. These lodgments were made before pre-fill data was available.
The result is solely focused on individuals who are not in business. It reflects the proportion of their total income where our pre-filling matches their final income tax result within the tolerance. This measure uses a dollar-based systems assurance approach, where pre-filling makes it easier for our clients to meet their obligations and increases trust and confidence in the accuracy of final tax outcomes.
The measure previously used tax return data from two years prior, to allow sufficient time for lodgment program periods to be completed and results to be assured by the ATO. From 2020–21 onwards, we are using data from the year immediately prior, to provide a more timely assessment. The calculation is still undertaken after the formal lodgment cycle has been completed.