The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is launching an extensive data-matching program to identify taxpayers receiving income from short term rentals. Information from online platform sharing sites for around 190,000 Australians will be examined to identify taxpayers who have left out rental income and over-claimed deductions.
In 2016, approximately 2.1 million individuals reported rental income of $42 billion. Assistant Commissioner Kath Anderson said that rental properties are high on the ATO’s priority list given that the rental market is a significant share of the economy and there is evidence that some taxpayers are getting it wrong.
The ATO will match data provided by online rental platforms and their financial institutions against ATO records to identify taxpayers not meeting their registration, reporting, lodgement, or payment obligations when renting out property on a short term basis. The new data complements long-term rentals information which the ATO already receives from State and Territory Bond Boards.
The data collected will include income received per listing as well as listing dates, enquiry and booking rates, prices charged or quoted per night and other information.
Source: ATO
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