ATO targeting online selling

The Australian Tax Office is collecting data from financial institutions and online selling sites as part of their data matching programs for credit and debit cards and online selling. 

The data will include: 

• the total amount of credit and debit card payments businesses received 
• online sellers who have sold at least $12,000 worth of goods or services

The ATO will match this data with information from income tax returns, activity statements and other ATO records to identify any discrepancies. Data matching helps the Tax Office to identify businesses that need help and those that may not be reporting all their income or meeting their registration, lodgment or payment obligations. 

Business owners who think they might have made a mistake or left something out are urged to contact our office to correct your mistake, amend your return or make a voluntary disclosure. The ATO may reduce or even waive penalties if you make a disclosure before the Tax Office contacts you.