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Australia: Tax collectors eye Airbnb and Uber

By  |  August 14, 2016

The federal government’s key tax adviser and the Australian Taxation Office have launched a fresh assault on the burgeoning cash economy, including considering sanctions for people who operate outside the tax system built up around technology disrupters Airbnb and Uber.

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    The Board of Taxation, which advises the government on the ­development of tax policy, has embarked on a two-year program with the ATO to improve collection mechanisms and tax documentation across a range of industries. The work has been sanctioned by the Minister for Revenue, Kelly O’Dwyer. A prime focus is the $500 million sharing economy, which includes services provided through companies such as Airbnb and Uber.

    Deloitte Access Economics has estimated more than half the ­nation’s consumers participated in the sharing economy last year, and more than 60 per cent ­planned to do so in the near future.

    “We are working with the ATO … to try and come up with some more lateral thinking and some ideas about how we could go about tackling this,’’ Board of Taxation chairman Michael Andrew told The Australian.

    “We are looking specifically at the growth of the shared econo­my. The likes of Airbnb and Uber. We don’t have a good collection mechanism for a lot of that work.’’

    Full Content: The Australian

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