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This Act may be cited as the Taxation Administration Act 1953.
In this Act (except Schedule 1), unless the contrary intention appears:
approved form has the meaning given by Schedule 1.
ASIO means the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
assessable amount has the meaning given by subsection 155‑5(2) in Schedule 1.
Australia, when used in a geographical sense, has the same meaning as in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
Commissioner means the Commissioner of Taxation.
Deputy Commissioner means any Deputy Commissioner of Taxation.
Director‑General of Security means the Director‑General of Security holding office under the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979.
Division 296 general interest charge rate has the meaning given by subsection 8AAD(1A).
eligible recipient has the meaning given by section 14ZZV.
eligible whistleblower has the meaning given by section 14ZZU.
engage in conduct means:
do an act; or
omit to perform an act.
excess concessional contributions determination has the same meaning as in subsection 995‑1(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
excise law has the meaning given by the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
exempt Australian government agency has the meaning given by subsection 995‑1(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
failure to notify penalty means the penalty worked out under Division 2 of Part IIA.
fuel tax law has the meaning given by the Fuel Tax Act 2006.
general interest charge means the charge worked out under Part IIA.
Immigration Department has the meaning given by the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
Immigration Secretary has the meaning given by the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
indirect tax law has the meaning given by the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
ineligible income tax remission decision has the meaning given by section 14ZS.
Laminaria and Corallina decommissioning levy has the same meaning as in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
late reconciliation statement penalty means the penalty worked out under Division 3 of Part IIA.
migration officer means:
the Immigration Secretary; or
an employee of the Immigration Department.
objection decision has the meaning given by subsection 14ZY(2).
officer means a person appointed or engaged under the Public Service Act 1999.
private indirect tax ruling means a private ruling, to the extent that it relates to an indirect tax law (other than the fuel tax law).
private ruling has the meaning given by section 359‑5 in Schedule 1.
registered tax agent or BAS agent has the same meaning as in the Tax Agent Services Act 2009.
Second Commissioner means a Second Commissioner of Taxation.
taxation law has the meaning given by the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
See also subsection (2).
tax liability means a liability to the Commonwealth arising under, or by virtue of, a taxation law.
Tax Practitioners Board means the Tax Practitioners Board established by section 60‑5 of the Tax Agent Services Act 2009.
Tribunal means the Administrative Review Tribunal.
Despite the definition of taxation law in subsection (1), an Excise Act (as defined in subsection 4(1) of the Excise Act 1901) is not a taxation law for the purposes of Part III of this Act.
Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code applies to all offences against this Act.
Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code sets out the general principles of criminal responsibility.
This Act binds the Crown in each of its capacities. However, it does not make the Crown liable to a pecuniary penalty or to be prosecuted for an offence.
This Act extends to every external Territory referred to in the definition of Australia.
Schedule 1 has effect.
Definitions in Schedule 1 do not apply to rest of Act
So far as a provision in Schedule 1 gives an expression a particular meaning, the provision does not also have effect for the purposes of this Act (other than Schedule 1), except as provided in this Act (other than Schedule 1).
Application of interpretation provisions of Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
An expression has the same meaning in Schedule 1 as in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
Division 950 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (which contains rules for interpreting that Act) applies to Schedule 1 to this Act as if the provisions in that Schedule were provisions of that Act.
The Commissioner has the general administration of this Act.
An effect of this provision is that people who acquire information under this Act are subject to the confidentiality obligations and exceptions in Division 355 in Schedule 1.
The Commissioner shall, as soon as practicable after 30 June in each year, prepare and furnish to the Minister a report on the working of this Act.
A report under subsection (1) in relation to a year ending on 30 June shall:
set out:
the number of occasions (if any) during the year on which a request was made to disclose information under subsection 355‑55(1) in Schedule 1 (about disclosures to Ministers); and
the number of occasions (if any) during the year on which information was disclosed under that subsection; and
the Ministers to whom the information was disclosed; and
set out:
the number of occasions (if any) during the year on which a request was made to disclose information under subsection 355‑70(1) in Schedule 1 (about disclosures for law enforcement and related purposes); and
the number of occasions (if any) during the year on which information was disclosed under that subsection; and
the types of entities and the names of the courts and tribunals to which the information was disclosed; and
if the information was disclosed under table item 1 or 6 in subsection 355‑70(1)—the general categories of offences in relation to which the information was disclosed; and
set out the number (if any) of taxation officers (within the meaning of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997) found guilty of the offence in section 355‑25 in Schedule 1 (about disclosure of protected information); and
set out information on the exercise during the year of the Commissioner’s powers under Subdivision 370‑A in Schedule 1 (Commissioner’s remedial power).
Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to Part III and sections 15 and 15A insofar as that Part and those sections apply in relation to the Tax Agent Services Act 2009.
The Minister shall cause a copy of a report furnished under subsection (1) to be laid before each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the day on which the Minister receives the report.
For the purposes of section 34C of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, a report that is required by subsection (1) to be furnished as soon as practicable after 30 June in a year shall be taken to be a periodic report relating to the working of this Act during the year ending on that 30 June.
In this section:
this Act does not include Part IVC.
This section applies to an entity for an income year if:
the entity is a corporate tax entity; and
the entity has total income equal to or exceeding $100 million for the income year, according to information reported to the Commissioner in the entity’s income tax return for the income year.
An expression used in this subsection that is also used in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 has the same meaning as in that Act.
The Commissioner must, as soon as practicable after the end of the income year, make publicly available the information mentioned in subsection (3).
The information is as follows:
the entity’s ABN (within the meaning of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997) and name;
the entity’s total income for the income year, according to information reported to the Commissioner in the entity’s income tax return (within the meaning of that Act) for the income year;
the entity’s taxable income or net income (if any) for the income year, according to information reported to the Commissioner in that income tax return;
the entity’s income tax payable (if any) for the financial year corresponding to the income year, according to information reported to the Commissioner in that income tax return.
Subsection (5) applies if:
the entity gives the Commissioner a notice in writing that the return mentioned in paragraph (3)(b) contains an error; and
the notice contains information that corrects the error.
The Commissioner may at any time make the information mentioned in paragraph (4)(b) publicly available, in accordance with subsection (2), in order to correct the error.
To avoid doubt, if the Commissioner considers that information made publicly available under subsection (2) fails to reflect all of the information required to be made publicly available under that subsection, the Commissioner may at any time make publicly available other information in order to remedy the failure.
This section applies to a corporate tax entity for an income year if:
the entity is a country by country reporting entity for the income year; and
at the end of the income year, the entity is:
an Australian resident; or
a foreign resident who operates an Australian permanent establishment (within the meaning of Part IVA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936); and
the entity does not lodge a general purpose financial statement for the financial year most closely corresponding to the income year:
with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission; and
within the time provided under subsection 319(3) of the Corporations Act 2001 for lodgement of a report for that financial year.
However, this section does not apply to a corporate tax entity for an income year if:
the entity is a government related entity (within the meaning of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999); and
the Commissioner has given notice to the entity for the income year under subsection (1B).
For the purposes of paragraph (1A)(b), the Commissioner may give notice in writing to a government related entity (within the meaning of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999) for one or more specified income years if the Commissioner considers that it is appropriate to do so.
A corporate tax entity to which this section applies for an income year must, on or before the day by which the entity is required to lodge its income tax return for the income year with the Commissioner, give to the Commissioner in the approved form a general purpose financial statement for the financial year most closely corresponding to the income year.
Section 286‑75 in Schedule 1 provides an administrative penalty for breach of this subsection.
The Commissioner must give a copy of the statement to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
The giving of the copy to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission under subsection (3) is taken, for the purposes of the Corporations Act 2001, to be lodgement of the document with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Under section 1274 of the Corporations Act 2001, a person may inspect, and require to be given a copy or extract of, any document lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
For the purposes of this section, a general purpose financial statement in relation to an entity:
must be prepared in accordance with:
the accounting principles; or
if accounting principles do not apply in relation to the entity—commercially accepted principles relating to accounting; and
if the entity is a member of a group of entities that are consolidated for accounting purposes as a single group—must relate to:
the entity; or
the entity and some or all of the other members of the group.
An expression used in this section that is also used in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 has the same meaning as in that Act.
This section applies to an entity for a period mentioned in subsection (2) (the reporting period) if:
the entity is:
a constitutional corporation; or
a partnership in which each of the partners is a constitutional corporation; or
a trust of which each of the trustees is a constitutional corporation; and
the entity was a country by country reporting parent for a period that includes the whole or a part of the period mentioned in subsection (2) that preceded the reporting period; and
the entity is a member of a country by country reporting group at any time during the reporting period; and
at any time during the reporting period, the entity or another member of the country by country reporting group is:
an Australian resident; or
a foreign resident who operates an Australian permanent establishment (within the meaning of Part IVA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936); and
assuming that the reporting period were an income year, both of the following apply:
the entity’s aggregated turnover for the income year includes one or more amounts of income from an Australian source;
the sum of those amounts is $10 million or more; and
the entity is not included in a class of entities:
prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subparagraph; or
specified in a legislative instrument under subsection 3DB(4); and
the entity and the reporting period are not specified in an exemption under subsection 3DB(5).
For the purposes of subsection (1), the period is:
if paragraph (b) of this subsection does not apply—each period for which audited consolidated financial statements for the entity for the period are prepared; or
if the entity does not prepare audited consolidated financial statements—each period for which the entity would be, on the assumption that the entity were a listed company (within the meaning of section 26BC of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936), required to prepare such statements.
Publication of information
An entity to which this section applies for a reporting period must, within 12 months after the end of the reporting period:
publish the information set out in subsection 3DA(1), except to the extent the entity, the information and the reporting period are specified in an exemption under subsection 3DB(6); and
do so by giving a document containing the information to the Commissioner in the approved form.
Subsection 288‑140(1) in Schedule 1 provides for an administrative penalty for failing to comply with this subsection on time.
The Commissioner must, as soon as practicable after receiving the document given in accordance with paragraph (3)(b), make the information in the document available on an Australian government website.
Government related entities
This section does not apply to a corporate tax entity for a period mentioned in subsection (2) if:
the entity is a government related entity (within the meaning of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999); and
the Commissioner has given notice to the entity for the period under subsection (6).
For the purposes of paragraph (5)(b), the Commissioner may give notice in writing to a government related entity (within the meaning of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999) for one or more specified periods if the Commissioner considers that it is appropriate to do so.
Interpretation
An expression used in this section or section 3DA or 3DB that is also used in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 has the same meaning as in that Act.
For the purposes of paragraph 3D(3)(a), the information the entity must publish is as follows:
the name of the entity;
the names of each other entity that, at that time, was a member of the country by country reporting group;
a description of the country by country reporting group’s approach to tax;
the matters listed in subsection (3) of this section for the reporting period in respect of each of the following jurisdictions:
Australia;
a jurisdiction specified in a determination under subsection (4), if the country by country reporting group operates in that jurisdiction;
in respect of the jurisdictions in which the country by country reporting group operates that are not mentioned in paragraph (d) of this subsection:
a description of the country by country reporting group’s main business activities for the reporting period in the area consisting of those jurisdictions;
for each matter listed in subsection (5), the amounts for the reporting period for that matter in respect of each jurisdiction in the area, published as a sum of those amounts for that matter;
the currency used in calculating and presenting the information mentioned in subparagraph (ii);
if regulations for the purposes of this paragraph prescribe information—that information.
However, for the purposes of this section and sections 3D and 3DB, the entity is taken to have published the information set out in paragraph (1)(e) of this section if it publishes the matters listed in subsection (3) for the reporting period in respect of each jurisdiction in which the country by country reporting group operates.
For the purposes of paragraph (1)(d) and subsection (2), the following matters are listed:
the name of the jurisdiction;
a description of main business activities;
the number of employees (on a full‑time equivalent basis) as at the end of the reporting period;
revenue from unrelated parties;
revenue from related parties that are not tax residents of the jurisdiction;
profit or loss before income tax;
the book value at the end of the reporting period of tangible assets, other than cash and cash equivalents;
income tax paid (on a cash basis);
income tax accrued (current year);
the reasons for the difference between:
the amount mentioned in paragraph (i) of this subsection; and
the amount of income tax due if the income tax rate applicable in the jurisdiction were applied to the amount mentioned in paragraph (f) of this subsection;
the currency used in calculating and presenting the information mentioned in paragraphs (d) to (j) of this subsection.
For the purposes of subparagraph (1)(d)(ii), the Minister may, by legislative instrument, make a determination specifying jurisdictions.
For the purposes of subparagraph (1)(e)(ii), the following matters are listed:
the number of employees (on a full‑time equivalent basis) as at the end of the reporting period;
revenue from unrelated parties;
revenue from related parties that are not tax residents of the jurisdiction;
profit or loss before income tax;
the book value at the end of the reporting period of tangible assets, other than cash and cash equivalents;
income tax paid (on a cash basis);
income tax accrued (current year).
The amounts published by the entity for the matters listed in paragraphs (3)(c) to (i) and subsection (5) must be based on:
if paragraph (b) of this subsection does not apply—amounts as shown in the audited consolidated financial statements for the entity for the reporting period; or
if audited consolidated financial statements for the entity for the reporting period have not been prepared—amounts that would be, on the assumptions that the entity were a listed company (within the meaning of section 26BC of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936) and such statements were prepared, shown in those statements.
Interpretation
For the purposes of determining the effect that paragraph (1)(c), subsections (3) and (5) and any regulations made for the purposes of paragraph (1)(f) have in relation to an entity, identify information mentioned in those provisions:
so as best to achieve consistency with Disclosures 207‑1 and 207‑4 of GRI 207:Tax 2019 of the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Reporting Standards; and
having regard to the following documents, to the extent they are relevant:
the Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations, as approved by the Council of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and last amended on 7 January 2022;
Guidance on the Implementation of Country‑by‑Country Reporting: BEPS Action 13 (2022) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development;
a document, or part of a document, prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subparagraph.
The document in paragraph (a) could in 2024 be viewed on the Global Reporting Initiative’s website (https://www.globalreporting.org).
The documents in subparagraphs (b)(i) and (ii) could in 2024 be viewed on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s website (https://www.oecd.org).