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Commissioner's Remedial Power

Please use this form to provide information about the issue you are seeking to resolve via the Commissioner's remedial power (CRP).

The information you provide in this form will be considered when assessing whether the CRP may be utilised to resolve the issue – noting that an exercise of the CRP is subject to specific statutory criteria and other limitations.

The CRP provides the Commissioner of Taxation with limited powers to modify the operation of a tax law in circumstances where entities will benefit, or at least be no worse off, as a result of the modification. The CRP is designed only to resolve unforeseen and unintended consequences in the tax law.

Please note the CRP is not an alternative to lodging a complaint, appeal or objection if you are unhappy with a decision the Commissioner has made in relation to your tax affairs.

If the word limit of this form is insufficient to provide all necessary information, please email your submission to CRPSecretariat@ato.gov.au addressing all required fields. Please structure your submission with headings that correspond to the fields you are addressing.

All fields are required unless marked as 'optional'.

Clearly articulate the issue. Describe the impact of the issue on the community, including which entities it affects and the known extent of the impact. Short examples may help.
Provide relevant background information relating to how the issue has risen and a broad outline of the relevant legislative provision(s) the issue relates to.
Describe how the issue is currently being managed, including any administrative solutions that have been developed (such as practical compliance guidelines or ATO rulings) or any known difficulties in applying the current law.
Outline the modification proposed to the particular provision(s), and how the modification would resolve the issue.
Note that the intended purpose or object of a provision might be drawn from the explanatory memorandum, second reading speech, relevant committee reports, and other documents that accompanied the original introduction or subsequent amendments by Parliament to the relevant provision. Consideration may also be given to other material such as the legislative provisions themselves or relevant Government announcements. Unlike typical statutory interpretation approaches, primacy does not need to be given to the text of a relevant provision when ascertaining its intended purpose or object for the purpose of using the CRP.
Describe how the proposed modification would be considered reasonable. Modifications made using the CRP must be reasonable having regard to the intended purpose or object of the provision being modified, and whether the cost of complying with that provision is disproportionate to achieving that intended purpose or object. Other matters which go to reasonableness include:
• the extent to which the modification is favourable to entities
• whether the modification would result in any adverse impacts on the tax liability of a third party or asymmetrical tax outcome
• whether the modification would result in any adverse impacts on the tax liability of a third party or asymmetrical tax outcome
• any current judicial interpretation of the relevant law
• whether the modification would address a discrete or systemic issue with the law, and
• whether there are any differing stakeholder views on the issue.
Provide any information that might assist the Treasury or Department of Finance to undertake an assessment of the budget impacts of the proposed modification. For example, a description of the population of entities affected by the issue, details on whether the modification would provide greater access to a tax benefit such as a deduction, offset or tax exemption.
Provide an outline of any other avenues that have been considered to resolve the issue. For example, changes in administrative practices, the issuing of new public guidance material, proposed litigation.
Provide any additional information that may help in the assessment of the issue.
J. Contact Details