Earlier this month, YourLifeChoices asked you, our members, for your views on Australia’s taxation system, how it affects you and how you interact with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
We sought this information in order to appear before Parliament’s standing committee on tax and revenue, which was interested in mature Australians’ insights into the ATO’s digitised lodgement and information systems.
On Tuesday, our publisher Kaye Fallick and digital operations manager Drew Patchell, took those survey results and presented them to the committee to make sure your voices will be heard.
The survey found that less than half (42 per cent) of respondents were confident the ATO was managing their personal information safely with regard to security and privacy.
In the light of the recent ATO fraud and identity theft issues surrounding the sale of Medicare numbers, this is hardly surprising.
An overwhelming majority of members (84 per cent), also thought the tax treatment of people on the pension or welfare benefits should be reviewed.
Among some of the suggestions we were able to present to the parliamentary committee were:
- raising the low-income threshold
- simplifying the tax return process
- employing more staff
- making information more secure.
Overall, most members were reasonably satisfied with the ATO online lodgement service (87 per cent saying that it was easy to use).
Thank you again to our members for providing their feedback. We were proud to present on your behalf. Your anonymous responses will hopefully help guide improvements to the system.
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