Our key focus areas for 2023–24 are the strategically important areas where we must succeed in the year ahead. They focus on delivering committed priorities, driving tax performance and strengthening the integrity of the tax, superannuation and registry systems. Underpinning these focus areas are our continued advancements harnessing data and digitalisation to transform our business and to achieve our strategic objectives.
Improve small business tax performance
Improve small business tax performance with a digital-first approach. Encourage enhanced integration that supports high-quality, system generated tax guidance to minimise errors, increase confidence and promote right-time reporting and payment.
Key deliverables
- Develop a roadmap for the enhanced integration of tax and superannuation into the digital ecosystem for small business
- Prototype concepts to streamline the tax experience, in consultation and co-design with external stakeholders
Manage cybersecurity
Continue to strengthen our ability to govern, protect, detect and respond to cyberthreats to safeguard our organisation and our client data.
Key deliverables
- Identify and mitigate threats to our information and communications technology (ICT) ecosystem and educate our staff and clients on cybersafety practices
- Apply a defence-in-depth approach with multiple layers of security to fortify our organisation against cyberthreats and to safeguard our systems
Address collectable debt
Take decisive and swift action with those who are choosing not to engage and clients who purposefully avoid payment obligations. Recover high-value and aged debts and require timely payment of employer obligations that include or could lead to unpaid superannuation.
Key deliverables
- Apply differentiated strategies and targeted interventions to address collectable debt
- Optimise allocation of effort to strengthen debt prevention and recovery, including expedited stronger actions for clients with capacity to pay
- Improve client segmentation to better reflect predicted payment behaviours, with differentiated treatments designed to accelerate payment outcomes
- Set clear expectations and promote transparency of debt recovery approaches to clients and intermediaries, including potential firmer action consequences where clients do not engage
Protecting the system and clients against fraud
Strengthen system integrity by preventing, detecting and responding to evasion and fraud in the tax, superannuation and registry systems.
Key deliverables
- Take firm action on areas of suspected tax fraud, including intentional overclaiming of deductions and incorrect reporting of income
- Use data-driven insights and sophisticated risk modelling with new technology and approaches to identify and take action to prevent a loss of information and a loss to the revenue
- Address the risk of digitally enabled fraud at scale
Multinational tax performance
Continue to improve compliance and pursue new priority-tax-risk areas for multinational enterprises as well as public and private businesses and groups.
Key deliverables
- Address key risks to the corporate tax base and close tax loopholes so that the community has confidence that public and multinational businesses are paying the right amount of tax in Australia
- Support the integrity of the tax system by boosting tax transparency through better public reporting of large business tax information
- Positively influence the behaviours of advisors in the provision of tax advice and their interactions with the ATO
- Support large business through the timely provision of tailored advice and guidance, and other contemporary services
Modernising business registry services
Implement the Government’s response to the Independent review of the Modernising Business Registers Program.
Key deliverable
- Implementation of the Government supported recommendations from the Independent review of the Modernising Business Registers Program
Superannuation guarantee integrity
Continue to expand our use of data to improve superannuation guarantee (SG) compliance by assisting employers to meet their obligations, monitoring that employees receive correct and timely superannuation entitlements and taking firm action with employers who fail to meet their obligations.
Key deliverables
- Continue work to create a transparent view of employees’ SG for all funds and all employers in one place, to support the ATO to follow up employer non-compliance more proactively
- Improve nudges to support employers to self-correct SG issues and keep track with their obligations
- Continue to focus on employer and superannuation fund reporting timeliness, completeness and accuracy
- Include new measurements of superannuation guarantee charge raised, collected and distributed in the annual report
Continue to invest in data and digital
Continue to drive digitalisation and improve client and staff experiences to deliver more effective and efficient services.
Key deliverables
- Continue to implement the ATO Digital Strategy key initiatives to deliver trusted and effective digital services and ecosystems
- Continue to modernise our data and digital infrastructure to ensure we keep pace with changing client expectations and advancing technology
- Continue to mature our data governance and stewardship to ensure we maintain community trust in how we manage our data assets
- Uplift data and digital literacy across the ATO to enable staff to deliver contemporary services