Taxation Administration Act 1953

Section 355‑25 does not apply if:

the entity is a *taxation officer; and

the record is made for, or the disclosure is to, a *credit reporting bureau; and

the record or disclosure is of information that relates to the *tax debts of an entity (the primary entity) that is included in a class of entities declared under subsection (5) of this section; and

the record or disclosure is for the purpose of enabling the credit reporting bureau to prepare, issue, update, correct or confirm credit worthiness reports in relation to the primary entity; and

in the case of a disclosure of information other than for the purposes of updating, correcting or confirming information previously disclosed under this exception—both:

the Inspector‑General of Taxation has been consulted on the disclosure; and

28 days have passed after a notice under subsection (2) of this section was given to the primary entity for the disclosure.

A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in this subsection: see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code.

The Commissioner must notify a primary entity if:

information that relates to the primary entity is to be disclosed to a *credit reporting bureau under this section; and

the information is not information that updates, corrects or confirms the information previously disclosed under the exception in subsection (1).

The notice must:

be in writing; and

explain the type of information that is to be disclosed to the *credit reporting bureau; and

explain:

why the primary entity is included in a class of entities declared under subsection (5); and

the steps (if any) the primary entity may take to no longer be included in that class before the disclosure occurs; and

set out the amount of any *tax debts payable by the primary entity at the time the notice is given by the Commissioner; and

explain how the primary entity may make a complaint in relation to the proposed disclosure of the entity’s information; and

be served on the primary entity.

Section 355‑25 does not apply if:

the entity is a *taxation officer; and

the record is made for, or the disclosure is to, a *credit reporting bureau; and

the record or disclosure is of information that relates to the *tax debts of an entity that:

has had information previously disclosed under the exception in subsection (1) of this section; and

is no longer an entity that is included in a class of entities declared under subsection (5) of this section; and

the record or disclosure is of information that relates to why the entity to which the information relates is no longer included in a class of entities declared under subsection (5) of this section; and

the record or disclosure is for the purpose of enabling the credit reporting bureau to update or correct credit worthiness reports in relation to the entity to which the information relates.

A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in this subsection: see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code.

The Minister may, by legislative instrument, declare one or more classes of entities for the purposes of this section.

Before making an instrument under subsection (5), the Minister must:

consult the Inspector‑General of Taxation; and

consider any submissions made by the Inspector‑General of Taxation because of that consultation.

Before making an instrument under subsection (5), the Minister must:

consult the Information Commissioner in relation to matters that relate to the privacy functions (within the meaning of the Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010) and would be affected by the proposed instrument; and

consider any submissions made by the Information Commissioner because of that consultation.

An entity is a credit reporting bureau if the entity is recognised by the Commissioner as an entity that prepares and issues credit worthiness reports in relation to other entities.

The Commissioner must keep and publish a list of credit reporting bureaus on the Australian Taxation Office website.

The list of credit reporting bureaus is not a legislative instrument.