ATO BAS notification period extended

The Government will extend the time the ATO has to notify a taxpayer if it intends to retain a business activity statement (BAS) refund for further investigation. The ATO’s mandatory notification period for BAS refund retention will be increased from 14 days to 30 days to align with time limits for non-BAS refunds.

The extended period will strengthen the ATO’s ability to combat fraud during peak fraud events like the one that triggered Operation Protego. Legitimate refunds will be largely unaffected. Any legitimate refunds retained for over 14 days would result in the ATO paying interest to the taxpayer (as is currently the case). The ATO will publish BAS processing times online.

Increased ATO funding to counter fraud

The Government will provide $187.0 million over four years from 1 July 2024 to the ATO to strengthen its ability to detect, prevent and mitigate fraud against the tax and superannuation systems. Measures to be funded includes:

  • upgrades to information and communications technologies to enable the ATO to identify and block suspicious activity in real time;
  • a new compliance taskforce to recover lost revenue and intervene when attempts to obtain fraudulent refunds are made;
  • improvements to the ATO’s management and governance of its counter-fraud activities, including improving how the ATO assists individuals harmed by fraud.

The Government will also provide $0.4 million over four years from 1 July 2024 to the Department of Finance to undertake a Gateway Review process over the life of the proposal to ensure independent assurance, oversight and delivery of the measure.

Shadow Economy Compliance Program and Tax Avoidance Taskforce extended

The Government will extend the ATO Shadow Economy Compliance Program for two years from 1 July 2026. This measure is estimated to increase receipts by $1.9 billion and increase payments by $610.2 million over the 5 years from 2023–2024. This includes an increase in GST payments to the states and territories of $429.6 million. It will also extend the ATO Tax Avoidance Taskforce for two years, also from 1 July 2026. The Taskforce focuses on multinationals, large public and private businesses and high-wealth individuals. This measure is estimated to increase receipts by $2.4 billion and increase payments by $1.2 billion over the five years from 2023–2024.

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