Earlier this week, Tax Institute President, Michael Flynn CTA, and Vice-President, Stephen Healey CTA, joined me at the ATO’s quarterly National Tax Liaison Group meeting.

At this meeting we discussed issues with the senior leadership of the ATO and Treasury, including:

• exploring the concept of ‘enabling’ ATO guidance, to facilitate mutual risk mitigation and allow for more useful guidance - sunset clauses, restricted reliance to classes of taxpayers and/or conditions on reliance (such as reporting / attestation requirements);
• a project led by the Tax Institute to review and clean-up (initially part of) the existing suite of ATO advice and guidance;
• identifying ways to increase timeliness of administrative or policy-based responses – how best to raise the ‘on the horizon’ issues;
• the impact of possible compliance strategies on the ATO/taxpayer relationship and how the profession can foster willing participation;
• progress of announced tax measures;
• update on Tax White Paper & Federation White Paper;
• the latest re the OECD BEPS projects and Forum of Tax Administration;
• the Senate Economics References Committee’s Inquiry into tax avoidance and aggressive minimisation by corporations;
• post-implementation review of the ATO Consultative Model in 2015;
• review of effectiveness of current NTLG structure;
• confidentiality in consultation; and
• red tape reduction initiatives – safe harbours & importance of private sector efforts in reducing its own red tape.

Robert Jeremenko CTA is Senior Tax Counsel of The Tax Institute.

The Tax Institute is Australia’s leading professional association in tax. Its 13,000 members include tax agents, accountants and lawyers as well as tax practitioners in corporations, government and academia.