Compliance
The Office of State Revenue (OSR) administers revenue laws and grant and subsidy schemes in a fair and efficient manner for the community.
The overall objective of the Compliance Division is to maximise compliance with the various statutes that OSR administers.
We try to achieve this by:
- educating taxpayers so they understand their rights and obligations and in doing so maximise voluntary compliance
- identify risks associated with each revenue line and develop strategies to minimise those risks
- deter and minimise non compliance through application of penalties and/or prosecution action
Some of the education strategies we pursue include:
- assisting in education seminars and training sessions to enable taxpayers to understand their obligations
- conducting awareness programs such as Duties Revenue Online (ROL) visits to educate taxpayers
- identifying businesses that may be eligible for the rebate and ensuring they are registered
- providing opportunity for grouped employers to make application to be degrouped in accordance with the amended legislation
To maximise the level of compliance we identify risks to the revenue across all revenue lines and develop strategies to target each of those risks.
To assist in identifying those risks we obtain information and data from a number of sources including State and Federal authorities such as Workcover and ATO, businesses such as Verve and Alinta and financial institutions.
In addition we liaise closely with our Revenue Office counterparts in all other States and Territories in order to ensure compliance with our legislation and verify the accuracy of taxpayer declarations.
These sources are subject to data matching and other forms of analysis to identify any inconsistencies or contradictions which are then subject to further investigation.
Taxpayers subject to an investigation can expect to have penalties imposed at the involuntary rate where an assessment is issued as a result of the investigation.
Taxpayers who make disclosures of their own volition will be subject to the lower voluntary rate of penalty as an incentive to make such declarations.
Penalty rates are set out in Commissioner's Practices TAA1.2, TAA18.2, TAA19.0 and TAA20.1 and are published on this website.
To view the Commissioner's Practices please click here.
Those taxpayers who deliberately act to deceive the Commissioner or who obstruct an officer in the performance of their duties can expect to be subject to the coercive powers of the Commissioner.
In addition the Commissioner will also take prosecution action in appropriate circumstances for which the legislation provides specific Court imposed sanctions in addition to any administrative penalties that may apply.
Compliance principal objectives
The principal objectives of our Compliance activities are to:
- detect and eliminate tax evasion
- detect and report on tax avoidance
- assist in increasing taxpayer awareness through education.
- detect and, where necessary, assess and/or prosecute ineligible first home owner grant applicants.
Compliance program for 2012-13
The main areas of focus for the 2012-13 compliance program are land tax, the first home owner grant, pay-roll tax and duties.
Audits and Investigations
OSR conducts audits and investigations of taxpayers businesses to ensure compliance with the legislation administered and identify any risks that may impact on compliance.
To gain a better understanding of what is involved when an audit or investigation is undertaken please click here.
Record keeping
The Taxation Administration Act 2003 (TAA) imposes record keeping requirements on taxpayers.
In particular section 87 requires that a tax record must be retained for at least 5 years.
To view a more detailed explanation of the record keeping requirements please click here.
Customer Service Charter
OSR operates under a customer service charter which includes details of the rights and responsibilities of taxpayers.
It also sets out the levels of service taxpayers can expect from OSR.
To view the customer service charter please click here.
Anonymous Information
We also investigate anonymous disclosures from members of the public.
Confidentiality is assured and we welcome any information about non compliance relating to the taxes, duties and grants we administer.
Anonymous disclosures can be reported by telephoning (08) 9262 1380 or accessing the Complaints management system on our website by clicking here.