Like the majority of people in the world, the residents of Australia have to pay taxes. This tax money is used to fund the country’s roads, their school system, their health care, and so much more. Taxes have helped to make Australia into the thriving nation that it is today.
Taxes are collected by the Australian Taxation Office. What is this office? How does it work? Read on to learn more about taxes in Australia.
What Is The Taxation Office?
The ATO is a non-corporate Commonwealth entity. The office handles a number of things, including the collecting of taxes and the reporting of taxes owed.
The ATO works with both individuals and businesses. They make sure that taxes are collected from every Australian that owes them. The agency also works to provide information to citizens about their tax bills. People are able to use the ATO website to determine how much they owe in taxes. They can also use their site to pay their tax bill. The ATO tries to make taxation easier on Australian residents.
Who Runs The Office?
At the time of writing, the office is run by Chris Jordan. He is Australia’s Commissioner of Taxation. With that said, Jordan does not handle everything on his own. He has support from the Executive Committee and a number of key management committees.
The ATO exists within the Australian Treasury. There are currently two ministers that the office serves: Kelly O’Dwyer and Scott Morrison.
The Goals Of The ATO
There are a number of people that have had issues with the ATO in the past. This is true of the majority of taxation offices; people tend to judge them quite harshly. With that stated, the ATO is clearly dedicated to improvement.
One of the primary goals of the ATO is to find ways to better meet the needs of the community. The people at the ATO also want to create a culture of integrity. They want to ensure that everyone in Australia is able to trust the information that comes from their tax office.
How The ATO Has Been Changing
What kinds of changes has the ATO been going through? To start, they’ve been working to become more service-oriented. They have talked to many people and asked how they could make the current tax program easier for them.
Anyone individual that needs to file their taxes can now use the myTax program for free. People are able to use this program as they work to complete and file their taxes.
For people that need help with their taxes, there are now a number of pop-up service centers. Any Australian is able to get access to assistance if they need it.
Now that you have a better understanding of what the Australian Taxation office does, you can join the fight to make this office a better place. The office has steadily improved over the last year, and the office is set to make even more improvements in the future.