ATO urged to upgrade super TFNs

By Mike Taylor

THE Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has been urged to get its administration of the tax file numbering (TFN) system applying to superannuation funds and trusts up to the same standard as that which applies to individuals.

An Australian National AuditOffice (ANAO) report has found that while the ATO has made substantial progress in improving the integrity of the TFN system as it applies to individuals, issues still exist where partnerships, trusts and superannuation are concerned.

The ANAO report, tabled in Parliament, said that while the ATO’s superannuation business line (SPR) uses data matching to support administration in many significant ways, “the SPR could use additional data matching strategies to improve administration further in several areas”.

These included clearing the backlog of superannuation contribution surcharge exceptions; reducing the likelihood of a member of a superannuation fund becoming ‘lost’, and therefore placed on the lost members register; and clarifying the classification and status of a superannuation fund, especially those with a small number of members.

However, the ANAO report noted there were serious shortcomings in the quality of key data items for some categories of non-individuals, particularly non-individual entities such as partnerships, trusts and superannuation funds.

“The records for these entities do not have the same level of integrity as those of individuals,” the report said.

“Accordingly, ANAO considers that the areas of concern in relation to the TFN system are chiefly the ATO’s administration of partnerships, trusts and superannuation.”

The ATO responded positively to the ANAO’s report and said it was currently working with superannuation funds to improve reporting.

“The ATO is actively working to review corporate standards and processes to manage new and existing data holdings on a risk management basis,” it said.