{"id":"F2019L01687","name":"Taxation Administration (Tax Debt Information Disclosure) Declaration 2019","slug":"taxation-administration-tax-debt-information-disclosure-declaration-2019","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":440346,"registerId":"F2019L01687-fast-fetch-1775956011802","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Taxation Administration (Tax Debt Information Disclosure) Declaration 2019","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nTaxation Administration (Tax Debt Information Disclosure) Declaration 2019\n\nI, Michael Sukkar, Minister for Housing and Assistant Treasurer, make the following Declaration.\n\nDated   19 December 2019\n\n \n\nMichael Sukkar\n\nMinister for Housing and Assistant Treasurer\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1  Name \n\n2  Commencement\n\n3  Authority\n\n4  Definitions\n\n5  Interpretation\n\nPart 2—Classes of entities whose tax debt information can be disclosed to credit reporting bureaus\n\n6  Declared class of entities—taxpayers carrying on a business or similar venture with total tax debts of $100,000 or more for more than 90 days and who fail to effectively engage with the Commissioner\n\n \n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Taxation Administration (Tax Debt Information Disclosure) Declaration 2019.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument The 60th day after the day this instrument is registered.\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under the Taxation Administration Act 1953.\n\n4  Definitions\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nobjection decision has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Act.\n\nreviewable decision has the same meaning as in section 10 of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993.\n\ntaxation objection has the same meaning as in section 14ZL of the Act.\n\ntax debt information means information relating to the tax debts of an entity that may be disclosed under subsection 355‑72(1) or subsection 355‑72(4) in Schedule 1 to the Act.\n\nthe Act means the Taxation Administration Act 1953.\n\n5  Interpretation\n\n  Expressions used in this instrument have the same meaning as in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.\n\nNote: Under subsection 3AA(2) of the Act, an expression has the same meaning in Schedule 1 as in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.\n\nPart 2—Classes of entities whose tax debt information can be disclosed to credit reporting bureaus\n\n \n\nNote: This instrument declares the class or classes of entities whose tax debt information may be disclosed to credit reporting bureaus by taxation officers under subsection 355‑72(1) in Schedule 1 to the Act.\n\n6  Declared class of entities—taxpayers carrying on a business or similar venture with total tax debts of $100,000 or more for more than 90 days and who fail to effectively engage with the Commissioner\n\n (1) For the purposes of section 355‑72 in Schedule 1 to the Act, entities that meet all of the following are in a class of entities declared under subsection 355‑72(5) in Schedule 1 to the Act:\n\n (a) the entity is registered in the Australian Business Register under the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999, otherwise than as:\n\n (i) a deductible gift recipient; or\n\n (ii) a complying superannuation fund; or\n\n (iii) a registered charity; or\n\n (iv) a government entity;\n\n (b) the entity has one or more tax debts, the total of which is at least $100,000, that have been due and payable for more than 90 days;\n\n (c) the entity satisfies one of the following:\n\n (i) the entity does not have an active complaint with the Inspector‑General of Taxation concerning the disclosure of tax debt information of the entity that is, or could be, the subject of an investigation under paragraph 7(1)(a) of the Inspector‑General of Taxation Act 2003; or\n\n (ii) the entity has an active complaint with the Inspector‑General of Taxation concerning the disclosure of tax debt information of the entity that is, or could be, the subject of an investigation under paragraph 7(1)(a) of the Inspector‑General of Taxation Act 2003, but after taking reasonable steps to confirm whether the Inspector-General has such a complaint, the Commissioner does not become aware of the complaint.\n\nTax debts that are not to be included in total tax debts\n\n (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b), disregard a tax debt to the extent that:\n\n (a) the entity has entered into an arrangement with the Commissioner to pay the tax debt by instalments under section 255‑15 in Schedule 1 to the Act and the entity is complying with that arrangement; or\n\n (b) all of the following are satisfied:\n\n (i) the entity has made an application to the Commissioner under section 340-5 in Schedule 1 to the Act to be released from the tax debt; and\n\n (ii) the application has not been withdrawn; and\n\n (iii) the entity has not previously made an application under section 340-5 for release from any of the tax debt; and\n\n (iv) either of the following paragraphs apply:\n\n (A) the Commissioner has not made a decision in relation to the application; or\n\n (B) the Commissioner has made a decision in relation to the application but either a notice of that decision has not yet been served on the entity, or if a notice has been served on the entity, less than 60 days have passed since service was effected; or\n\n (c) all of the following are satisfied:\n\n (i) the entity has lodged a taxation objection in relation to the tax debt in the manner set out in Part IVC of the Act; and\n\n (ii) the objection has not been withdrawn; and\n\n (iii) either of the following paragraphs apply:\n\n (A) the Commissioner has not made an objection decision; or\n\n (B) the Commissioner has made an objection decision but either a notice of that decision has not yet been served on the entity, or if a notice has been served on the entity, less than 60 days have passed since service was effected; or\n\n (d) all of the following are satisfied:\n\n (i) the entity has, under section 14ZZ of the Act, applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for review of, or appealed to the Federal Court of Australia against, an objection decision in relation to the tax debt; and\n\n (ii) the application for review or appeal has not been withdrawn or refused; and\n\n (iii) the proceedings of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal or Federal Court of Australia (including any related appeals) have not come to an end; or\n\n (e) all of the following are satisfied:\n\n (i) the entity has requested a reconsideration of a reviewable decision in relation to the tax debt in the manner set out in section 344 of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993; and\n\n (ii) the request has not been withdrawn; and\n\n (iii) the decision has not been confirmed, revoked or varied; or\n\n (f) all of the following are satisfied:\n\n (i) the entity has, under section 344 of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993, applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for review of a reviewable decision in relation to the tax debt; and\n\n (ii) the application for review has not been withdrawn or refused; and\n\n (iii) the proceedings of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (including any related appeals) have not come to an end; or\n\n (g) the entity has an active complaint with the Inspector‑General of Taxation in relation to the tax debt that is, or could be, the subject of an investigation under paragraph 7(1)(a) of the Inspector‑General of Taxation Act 2003, and following the taking of reasonable steps to confirm whether the Inspector-General has such a complaint, the Commissioner becomes aware of the complaint.\n\nNote: Tax debts are disregarded where the entity is effectively engaging with the Commissioner to manage the debt or is taking action in accordance with the law to dispute the debt.\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: declaring the specific class of business entities whose tax debt information may be disclosed to credit reporting bureaus. The detailed exclusions in section 6(2) are integral to the core function (ensuring only non-engaging taxpayers are caught), not scope creep. The instrument implements the specific disclosure framework established by section 355-72 of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 without expanding beyond that statutory authorization."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple nested conditions in section 6(1) requiring all criteria to be met simultaneously (ABN registration, specific exclusions, $100,000 threshold, 90-day overdue period, and engagement test)","Seven distinct exclusion categories in section 6(2) that remove debts from the total calculation, each with their own sub-conditions (e.g., 6(2)(b)(iv) has two alternative branches, 6(2)(c)(iii) has two alternative branches)","Cross-references to at least 6 different Acts: Taxation Administration Act 1953, A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999, Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, Inspector-General of Taxation Act 2003, Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993, and Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1971 (implied)","Defined terms that import meanings from other legislation ('objection decision', 'reviewable decision', 'taxation objection', 'the Act')","Temporal conditions requiring calculation of days (90 days overdue, 60 days since service of notice)","Dual pathways for similar concepts (objections under Part IVC vs. superannuation decisions under SIS Act) creating parallel but slightly different procedural requirements","Subjective/administrative test in 6(1)(c) regarding 'reasonable steps' to confirm complaints with the Inspector-General of Taxation"],"plain_english_summary":"This law lets the ATO share certain businesses' overdue tax debts with credit reporting bureaus, so those debts can appear on business credit records. It targets ABN‑registered businesses (not charities, super funds, government bodies, or registered DGRs) with at least $100,000 overdue for over 90 days and not actively engaging with the ATO to resolve the debt.\n\nIt matters because disclosures can harm creditworthiness and reputation, incentivising payment or engagement while protecting those genuinely on payment plans, disputing debts, or seeking hardship relief."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":7,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument does not amend the underlying Act; it declares which class of entities the Commissioner may disclose under the Act and specifies numeric thresholds, exclusions and procedural conditions (see s6 and s4). Functionally, it narrows and clarifies the subset of entities subject to disclosure by setting eligibility criteria and suspension conditions tied to payment arrangements, disputes and Inspector‑General complaints, rather than expanding the Commissioner’s statutory disclosure power."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple cross‑references to other statutes and provisions (Taxation Administration Act 1953 Schedule 1 s355‑72; Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 meanings; A New Tax System (ABN) Act 1999; Inspector‑General of Taxation Act 2003; Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993) (see sections 3, 4, 5 and 6)","Bright‑line numeric thresholds and time limits (at least $100,000 total tax debt; debts due and payable for more than 90 days) (s6(1)(b))","Detailed set of carve‑outs and conditional exclusions that require factual assessment (instalment arrangements, release applications, taxation objections, AAT/Federal Court proceedings, SIS Act reviewable decisions) with timing rules tied to service of notices and 60‑day periods (s6(2)(a)–(f))","Discretion and information‑gathering burden on the Commissioner to take ‘reasonable steps’ to confirm whether an Inspector‑General complaint exists before disclosure (s6(1)(c)(ii), s6(2)(g))","Interaction with administrative review and judicial review processes (objection decisions, AAT and Federal Court proceedings) creates suspension windows during which disclosure is barred (s6(2)(c)–(d), (f))","Commencement mechanics set a deferred start (60 days after registration) which affects implementation timing (s2)","Reliance on defined terms from other Acts increases interpretive complexity (definitions cross‑linked in s4 and note to s5)"],"plain_english_summary":"This Declaration lets the Commissioner of Taxation disclose certain businesses' tax‑debt information to credit reporting bureaus. It applies to entities on the Australian Business Register whose unpaid tax debts total at least $100,000 and have been overdue for more than 90 days, where the entity is not effectively engaging with the Commissioner. The instrument also excludes debts subject to agreed instalment plans, recent release applications, active objections or reviews, or verified Inspector‑General complaints until those processes progress or conclude."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/taxation-administration-tax-debt-information-disclosure-declaration-2019","history":"/api/acts/taxation-administration-tax-debt-information-disclosure-declaration-2019/history","analysis":"/api/acts/taxation-administration-tax-debt-information-disclosure-declaration-2019/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/taxation-administration-tax-debt-information-disclosure-declaration-2019/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/taxation-administration-tax-debt-information-disclosure-declaration-2019/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/taxation-administration-tax-debt-information-disclosure-declaration-2019/documents"}}