Powers of the Australian Taxation Office and Possible Misuse

Document Type:Essay

Subject Area:Law

Document 1

The ideas of the principle are further reiterated in the neutrality principle which demands that no acts of favoritism should be shown to a particular group of citizens. The Australian Taxation Office, the body mandated to oversee tax collection of tax revenue for the government, has faced tremendous allegations regarding its tax collection policy. The body which has been widely blamed for putting in place a taxing system which largely hurts small businesses as well as targeting various individuals for higher taxation. The body has however maintained that all its undertakings are within their powers and such actions are meant to raise more revenue for the government. The paper therefore investigates whether the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has violated their mandate by looking into their powers and where they get such powers.

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Such power normally affects small businesses as they do not have the capability to hold negotiations with ATO and cannot appeal the decisions since it is only ATO that is mandated to handle such matters. Likewise, ATO has the power to access a person’s or firm’s property without a warranty. As long as the organization suspects that an individual or firm may be involved in tax fraud, they can go ahead to access their premises at any time and retrieve documents which they think are crucial for their investigation. The Australian Taxation Office has used the power to access people’s premises in a number of occasions and in some instances, without informing the owners of the properties. Consequently, ATO has the power to divert an individual’s income into their own account in instances where an individual may be owing them a debt.

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The organization has stated that the allegations pointed out in the Four Corners documentary did not prove any event of ‘systemic issues’ within its ranks. ATO’s claims therefore counters claims stating that it orchestrates tax activities that are meant to target small businesses and few individuals in the society. Similarly, ATO has said that it is ready to face any kind of investigation meant to ascertain the nature of its operations. The taxing organization hinted that it is open to investigations and will cooperate with the various investigative agencies in a bid to determine the actual truth. Having noted that the Inspector General of Taxation had embarked on investigating the agency, ATO through its spokesperson said that ‘as always, we are committed to cooperating fully throughout the process’.

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For this reason, the government ought to separate the powers of ATO in order to lower the amount of suspicion that citizens have towards the agency. By having much powers, ATO will always face various allegations of misuse of their powers due to the nature of their job and amount of authority they have. In conclusion, it is evident that the Australian Taxation office (ATO), has faced numerous allegations concerning misuse of their powers by using tax collection methods that mostly affect small business enterprises as well as targeting various individuals in the society in order to meet the government’s revenue targets. The organization has powers such as accessing people’s property without warranty and authority to investigate, prosecute and pass judgement regarding various people suspected of violating taxation rules.

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