# Treasury consultation paper on implementing a reporting regime for sharing economy providers



## Jack Malarkey (Jan 11, 2016)

*From the Australian Treasury's website: *

*Implementing a reporting regime for sharing economy platform providers*

...

23 January 2019 - 22 February 2019[email protected].
Consultation Paper

*Key documents*

Consultation Paper - PDF 759KB
Consultation Paper - DOCX 324KB

In the 2018-19 Budget, the Government announced that it will consult stakeholders on how it could implement the Black Economy Taskforce recommendation for a sharing economy reporting regime. The Taskforce recommended that sharing economy websites should be required to report payments made to their users to the ATO and other government agencies as appropriate (see Final Report).

The consultation paper discusses existing arrangements for reporting sharing economy information and seeks views on the possible design characteristics of a reporting regime, including the scope of proposed information reporting requirements.

*Responding*

You can submit responses to this consultation up until 22 February 2019.

Interested parties are invited to comment on this consultation.

While submissions may be lodged electronically or by post, electronic lodgement is preferred. For accessibility reasons, please submit responses sent via email in a Word or RTF format. An additional PDF version may also be submitted.

All information (including name and address details) contained in submissions will be made available to the public on the Treasury website unless you indicate that you would like all or part of your submission to remain in confidence. Automatically generated confidentiality statements in emails do not suffice for this purpose. Respondents who would like part of their submission to remain in confidence should provide this information marked as such in a separate attachment.

Legal requirements, such as those imposed by the _Freedom of Information Act 1982_, may affect the confidentiality of your submission.

*How to respond*

*Email*
[email protected]

*Post*
Address written submissions to:

The Treasury
Black Economy Division
Langton Crescent
PARKES ACT 2600

*Enquiries*
[email protected]

Kathleen de Kleuver +61 2 6263 3348

(https://treasury.gov.au/consultation/c2018-t350194/)

Jack Malarkey comments:

The following paragraph from the consultation paper caught my eye:

Example: Following ATO data matching, guidance on tax obligations and education campaigns, in ride-sourcing, GST registrations of active drivers has increased from 52 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 to 73 per cent in the first quarter of 2018, with ABN registration rates now at approximately 82 per cent.


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## cough (Feb 15, 2018)

Same old shit, screw the little guy for every last penny while the big corporations and rich bastards pay stuff all.


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## Hugh G (Sep 22, 2016)

cough said:


> Same old shit, screw the little guy for every last penny while the big corporations and rich bastards pay stuff all.


Isn't Bermuda a Tax Haven ?

What's it like living there ???

_Q.* Are there Ubers in Bermuda*?

REF: https://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda_00008a.htm

*A. There* is no *Uber* like service in *Bermuda* yet.

An online company *hitch.bm* offers mobile app based service which works on GPS and can help you call a normal taxi that has GPS system installed (note that many taxis in Bermuda do not have GPS system and is out of this network). You can download the app from their website, google play store (for android) or app store (for iphones).

You need to register using your credit card which is automatically charged at the end of your trip.* Fare is higher than usual taxi fare..*. base fare for 4-passenger taxi is $5.92, fare for every mile is $3.16 and waiting is $0.63 per minute. There is a 25% surcharge on these rates on Sundays & public holidays as well as between mid-night and 6am. If you cancel after 2 minutes of booking, the base fare would be charged as cancellation fee. _​


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## Beepbeep41 (Apr 25, 2017)

Jack Malarkey said:


> *From the Australian Treasury's website: *
> 
> *Implementing a reporting regime for sharing economy platform providers*
> 
> ...


I'll vent my opinion to the email above...


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## Hugh G (Sep 22, 2016)

Beepbeep41 said:


> I'll vent my opinion to the email above...


Make sure you post of copy your alledged email.

They will be waiting with baited breath, remember ...SPELLCHECK IS YOUR FRIEND

In a previous life decades ago I worked for the Public Service, the highlight of the year at the Xmas Party was to read the best entries from the public we had saved in the IDIOT FILE.

Your alledged previous email to the Council to help solve the Parking Issues at the Sunshine Coast Airport seems to have gone astray.

https://uberpeople.net/threads/parking-woes-at-sunshine-coast-airport.248776/#post-3753825

Could you let us know how that's going ?


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## everythingsuber (Sep 29, 2015)

cough said:


> Same old shit, screw the little guy for every last penny while the big corporations and rich bastards pay stuff all.


Tax is for poor people.
It's always interesting to look at the charts that come out occasionally showing average taxable income for each post code.
The nicest postcodes earn the least amount of taxable income.


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## Hugh G (Sep 22, 2016)

*ATO hunts hidden income from Uber, Airbnb and other gig economy workers*

By business reporter Nassim Khadem
23/01/2019
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01...ns-hiding-income-via-uber-and-airbnb/10742528

  
*Photo:* Uber could be forced to report drivers' earnings to the ATO. (Reuters: Kai Pfaffenbach) 

Gig economy platforms Uber, Airbnb and Airtasker say they are consulting with the Federal Government about how they can adhere to a new reporting regime being considered as part of a crackdown on people dodging their taxes by under-declaring income.

*Key points:*

A Treasury paper released on Wednesday suggests all gig economy providers may be forced to report workers' incomes to the ATO
Australia's sharing economy is worth about $15.1 billion, but there is no estimate of the tax lost from potential underreporting of income
Some experts have welcomed greater transparency, while others say the Federal Government should be going after multinationals that underpay tax
A Treasury paper released on Wednesday suggests all gig, or sharing, economy providers could be subject to a new reporting regime.

This would ensure the ATO has greater visibility and that Australians are correctly reporting income from activities such driving an Uber, renting out a room on Airbnb, completing a chore in Airtasker or delivering a pizza via Deliveroo.

The paper follows a recommendation from the Federal Government's Black Economy Taskforce, which last year made a host of other recommendations including stronger laws to fight back against criminal and tax avoidance activities.

Australia's sharing economy was worth an estimated $15.1 billion in February 2017 and about 10.8 million Australians, or 60 per cent of the workforce, were thought to have earnt extra money from sharing economy services between July to December 2017.

The Federal Government has no estimate of the tax lost from potential underreporting of income or outright tax avoidance.

But the gig economy is growing and the Treasury paper suggests it is time platforms report data to the Australian Taxation Office like other third parties, such as banks, which report income, and corporates, which report dividends.

*Pre-filled tax returns with Uber income*
The new reporting regime would also result in more pre-filing of peoples' tax returns.

*The incestuous world of tax *
 
The ATO's senior ranks come from big accounting and law firms. Does that give birth to conflicts of interest?

An Uber spokeswoman welcomed the proposed move to make companies report the data directly to the ATO.

"We look forward to participating in the upcoming consultation process and working with Government on ways that make it easier for driver partners using the Uber app to meet their tax obligations," she said.

Airbnb said it will consider the paper and "looks forward to working with Treasury throughout the consultation process".

Compliance manager at Car Next Door, Kate Trumbull, also said they would adhere to any new reporting regime.

"We don't see this initiative as a problem for car-sharers or for us at all," she said.

The ATO recently provided a summary statement on all the deductions car-sharers can claim, and now this would make it easier for users by pre-filling information on their tax returns.

"We think it will make it even easier to claim deductions," Ms Trumbull said. "It makes tax time simpler."

The Treasury paper said there could be exemptions for smaller players. It suggested start-ups in the sharing economy could be given a grace period from reporting obligations.

Ms Trumbull said she thinks it worth exploring a carve-out for start-ups.

"We are at a size now that we can report, but when we were starting out with just three people, that would have been difficult to do. Start-ups are operating on a shoestring and adding an extra compliance burden could make things difficult for them."

*Gig economy users earn low wages*
CPA Australia's Paul Drum said a new reporting regime would bring gig economy providers into line with other third parties, such as the banks, which already give the ATO data that it uses to pre-fill tax returns.

*'It's evil and it's vengeful'*
 
The Tax Office is facing calls for curbs on the 'draconian' powers it uses to target small businesses.

"Nobody has any idea about the current level of tax compliance by users - whether it is from dog sitting to building furniture from Ikea as part of Airtasker to driving an Uber," he said.

"The ATO will get data directly instead of chasing data from the Ubers and Airbnbs.

"It seems logical and it wouldn't be huge compliance burden on the sharing economy platform providers. Platforms would see it as a bug bear but not a show stopper; it's in their interests to comply."

He said it would also enable a variety of government agencies to determine whether people should be getting welfare payments and other benefits.

"A pensioner couple might have been renting out the back room to supplement their income, but don't want to declare it because it will impact the means test for welfare benefits," he said.

But economist Alison Pennington, who is with the Centre for Future Work at The Australia Institute, said the Federal Government ought to be going after multinationals, not individuals.

"If Treasury is concerned with ensuring the tax system is up to date with the digital economy, they could start with closing corporate tax loopholes used by platforms like Uber which derive billions in untaxed profits from facilitating micro-trades of low-paid and vulnerable workers' labour," she said.

She said people working through digital platforms often earn very low wages.

"Our research estimated average hourly incomes of Uber drivers are well below Australia's basic statutory minimum wage of $18.29 per hour," she added.

*Data privacy concerns remain *
The paper also noted data privacy concerns, as it involves sellers' data being shared with both platforms and buyers.

That is an issue that concerns Air Tasker co-founder Tim Fung.

"We believe that everyone should meet their tax obligations and pay their fair share of tax," he told the ABC in a statement.

"We also believe that the vast majority of people want to contribute and government should carefully consider the impact of additional surveillance on the privacy of Australians."

The other difficulty, the paper observed, is data protection requirements applying in other jurisdictions.
It argued this may "create an additional challenge for sharing economy platforms in meeting the reporting obligations under Australia's potential sharing economy reporting regime" and could "create an uneven level playing field between domestic and international platform operators".

The Treasury paper also suggested a second option of using banks and the financial sector to track income and transactions.

But the Federal Government's tax advisory board, the Board of Taxation, looked at that option previously and said obtaining appropriate data from banks "was not a desirable option" because data may not be available or might be low quality.

Tech giants, including Uber and Airbnb, have long been working with the ATO on sharing data and providing direct reporting of the income earned by users.

The ATO currently has information-gathering powers to direct these platforms to provide data it needs, but the process can be time consuming.

*Future option: withhold income from users*
The ATO also recently changed the law to make it clear that Uber and other ride-sourcing drivers are required to register for and pay GST.

The Treasury paper noted that - following ATO data matching, guidance on tax obligations and education campaigns in ride-sourcing - GST registrations of active drivers increased from 52 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 to 73 per cent in the first quarter of 2018, with ABN registration rates now at about 82 per cent.

The reforms proposed in the Treasury paper were released on Wednesday by Assistant Treasurer Zed Seselja, who said he was worried some individuals are not reporting their full income, and thereby avoiding tax.

The paper also highlighted the Black Economy Taskforce's report recommendation to continue education programs and keep raising users' awareness about potential tax obligations from participating in the gig economy.

The Taskforce's report noted that, should people keep dodging their taxes, in future the Federal Government might want to consider requiring sharing economy platforms to deduct income tax from payments made to sellers, which would be remitted to the ATO.

However, for the time being, the Taskforce's report found that a withholding regime for sharing economy platforms would be "relatively onerous".


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## everythingsuber (Sep 29, 2015)

Well you can now understand why Uber is falling into line with requirement of being registered for GST to log on to the platform.
Uber doesn't want to be forced to withhold GST collected. I'm sure it will come though it's simply to easy for the ATO to manage and the staff freed up could focus on other sectors of the black economy ie. Cabs /restaurants / hair dressers / markets / farmers / tradespeople etc.


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

Jack Malarkey said:


> *From the Australian Treasury's website: *
> 
> *Implementing a reporting regime for sharing economy platform providers*
> 
> ...


That's a higher ABN registration rate than I expected. It probably shows that the ATO has a handle on how many are involved in the "Gig Economy" zeroing in on the 18% that haven't registered.


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## everythingsuber (Sep 29, 2015)

Sydney Uber said:


> That's a higher ABN registration rate than I expected. It probably shows that the ATO has a handle on how many are involved in the "Gig Economy" zeroing in on the 18% that haven't registered.


I'll defend Uber there. 18% would fall in line or well within the percentage of drivers that have been on the platform less than 6 months. New drivers not aware they must do bas or how serious the ATO are about it.I'm pretty sure the ATO get in touch with them to remind them within that time. I doubt there are drivers who haven't registered for 3 years or an extended period.


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## UberDriverAU (Nov 4, 2015)

everythingsuber said:


> Well you can now understand why Uber is falling into line with requirement of being registered for GST to log on to the platform.
> Uber doesn't want to be forced to withhold GST collected. I'm sure it will come though it's simply to easy for the ATO to manage and the staff freed up could focus on other sectors of the black economy ie. Cabs /restaurants / hair dressers / markets / farmers / tradespeople etc.


Uber already has GST payments to make. So if they had to withhold for drivers too it wouldn't be too much extra work. They already give the ATO all the details required to identify every driver. The article mentions income tax rather than GST though. Personally, I wouldn't object to withholding for income tax purposes, as happens for employees.


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## The Source (Nov 27, 2018)

UberDriverAU said:


> Uber already has GST payments to make. So if they had to withhold for drivers too it wouldn't be too much extra work. They already give the ATO all the details required to identify every driver. The article mentions income tax rather than GST though. Personally, I wouldn't object to withholding for income tax purposes, as happens for employees.


Next step can be minimum wage for the ants similar to NYC now that would make Max happy 

In regards to income tax, the ants are already earning less than half the minimum wage and they have lease to pay.

Earnings are around $9 an hour after running costs and the ATO think they can draw blood from a stone.


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## Grumpy Old Man (Jul 7, 2018)

I can remember a time when if anyone had said they wanted to earn the minimum wage they would have been locked up in a padded cell.
How times change.


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

Grumpy Old Man said:


> I can remember a time when if anyone had said they wanted to earn the minimum wage they would have been locked up in a padded cell.
> How times change.


Keeping expectations low, is a sure fire formula to enjoying THAT success!


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