(1)   Has he acted on the recommendation by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs in its report on the Inquiry into the exposure draft of the               Bankruptcy Legislation Amendment (Anti-Avoidance and Other Measures) Bill 2004 that subsection 16(4) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 and section 3C of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 be amended to authorise the Commissioner of Taxation to provide publicly available information to prescribed industry or professional organisations; if so, what action has he taken; if not, why not.

(2)   Does the Government intend to amend the legislation to permit the Commissioner to provide publicly available information to the (a) law societies of the States, Territories and Commonwealth of Australia and (b) bar associations of the States, Territories and Commonwealth of Australia.

(1)   The Inquiry highlighted conflicting views on whether the Commissioner of Taxation could provide publicly available information to prescribed industry or professional organisations under the secrecy provisions. The Solicitor-General has subsequently advised that public information is not subject to the secrecy provisions. As a general principle, where the Commissioner obtains tax information from a public source he may disclose this information to entities such as the New South Wales Bar Association. However, the Solicitor-General further advised that when disclosing public information, the Commissioner must make it clear to the recipient that the accuracy of the public information has not been confirmed by reference to his own records. The Commissioner’s records are subject to the secrecy provisions in the tax law and therefore cannot be disclosed. However, a recent meeting between representatives of the Australian Taxation Office and key legal professional associations has resolved that the practicalities associated with the Commissioner making public information available in this way are such that the required process would prove administratively and practically unworkable.

(2)   As the current law does not prohibit the Australian Taxation Office from disclosing public information, an amendment to the legislation as described, would not achieve the intended outcome. In view of the limitations associated with the way the Australian Taxation Office can deal with publicly available information, an amendment to the legislation that would achieve the intended outcome may well be significantly more complex than it first appears.