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Administered programs 1.5 to 1.18

In this section

Purpose

Performance results overview (expenditure by program)

Performance results – programs 1.5 to 1.13 and 1.15 to 1.18

Results analysis - programs 1.5 to 1.13 and 1.15 to 1.18

Performance results – program 1.14

Results analysis - program 1.14

Purpose

The ATO contributes to the economic and social wellbeing of Australians through governing a range of programs that result in transfers and benefits back to the community.

Performance results overview

All deliverables are achieved through making payments to eligible recipients in accordance with relevant laws.

We paid $11.7 billion in administered payments in 2018–19, $335 million (or 2.9%) higher than 2017–18 and $50 million (or 0.4%) less than forecast in the 2018–19 Budget. The largest expense was fuel tax credits with payments of $7.2 billion. This was $272 million (or 3.9%) above the 2018–19 Budget forecast.

Administered payments 2016–17 to 2018–19 (a)

Payments

2016–17
$m

2017–18
$m

2018–19
$m

Energy/fuel schemes payments

- Fuel tax credits

6,238

6,814

7,179

- Product stewardship for oil program

72

75

73

- Cleaner fuels grants scheme

1

0

0

- Exploration Development Incentive(b)

19

4

0

- Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive

0

0

0

Total energy/fuel scheme payments

6,330

6,892

7,252

Other administered payments

- Education tax refund

1

0

0

- Private health insurance rebate

249

249

240

- National rental affordability

166

188

170

- Superannuation co-contribution scheme

148

126

126

- Research and development tax offset (c)

2,546

2,463

2,311

- Australian Screen Production Incentive(d)

280

282

328

- Low income superannuation tax offset(e)

793

779

743

- Interest payments on lost superannuation accounts

14

15

28

- Seafarer tax offset

12

9

10

Total other administered payments

10,540

11,003

11,208

Distribution of super guarantee charge entitlements

281

402

532

TOTAL(f)

10,822

11,405

11,740

NOTES

(a) Totals may differ from the sum of components due to rounding.

(b) The 2017–18 exploration development incentive amount of $4 million is an estimate, due to difficulties associated with tracing payments to the ultimate beneficiary. There were very small residual amounts for 2018–19.

(c) Only refundable research and development tax offsets are administered payments.

(d) The 2017–18 Australian Screen Production Incentive of $282 million is an estimate due to difficulties with data matching. The 2018–19 amount is materially accurate.

(e) Low income superannuation tax offset replaced the low income super contribution from 1 July 2017.

(f) The 2018–19 total excludes $91 million of interest on overpayments of tax.

Performance results – programs 1.5 to 1.13 and 1.15 to 1.18

The way the ATO measures the performance of administered programs and the achievement of their purpose is set out on pages 202–212 of the Australian Taxation Office Budget Statements (in the Treasury PBS), and pages 25–26 of the ATO corporate plan 2018–19.

Programs 1.5 to 1.13 and 1.15 to 1.18 Administered programs performance

Performance criterion

Source

2016–17 Results

2017–18 Results

2018–19 Results

2018–19 Target

1.5 Australian Screen Production Incentive – Value of tax offsets processed

PBS 202
Corp plan 26

$279.7m

$281.8m

$328.0m

Administer the program in accordance with the law

1.6 Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive – All applications received are processed and taxpayers notified of their exploration credit allocation within 28 calendar days of the application period closing

PBS 203
Corp plan 25

X

X

Target met

Within 28 calendar days of the application period closing

1.6 Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive – Public reporting data uploaded on data.gov.au (and linked to the ato.gov.au website) after determination letters are issued

PBS 203
Corp plan 25

X

X

Target met

Within 56 calendar days of the application period closing

1.7 Fuel Tax Credits Scheme – Value of claims

PBS 203
Corp plan 26

$6.2b

$6.8b

$7.2b

Administer the program in accordance with the law

1.8 National Rental Affordability Scheme – Value of tax offsets processed

PBS 204
Corp plan 26

$166.2m

$188.2m

$170.3m

Administer the program in accordance with the law

1.9 Product Stewardship for Oil Program – Value of revenue collected

PBS 204
Corp plan 26

$33.9m

$33.6m

$30.9m

Administer the program in accordance with the law

1.9 Product Stewardship for Oil Program – Value of payments processed

PBS 204
Corp plan 26

$71.9m

$74.9m

$72.7m

Administer the program in accordance with the law

1.10 Research and Development Tax Incentive – Value of claims processed for 38.5%(a) non‑refundable research & development tax offset claimants

PBS 205
Corp plan 26

$3.6b tax offset paid (based on 40% non-refundable research and development tax offset claimants)

$2.9b tax offset paid

$2.7b tax offset paid

Administer the program in accordance with the law

1.10 Research and Development Tax Incentive – Value of claims processed for 43.5%(b) refundable research & development tax offset claimants

PBS 205
Corp plan 26

$2.5b tax offset paid (based on 45% refundable research and development tax offset claimants)

$2.5b tax offset paid

$2.3b tax offset paid

Administer the program in accordance with the law

1.10 Research and Development Tax Incentive – Number of claims processed for 38.5% non-refundable research & development tax offset claimants

PBS 205
Corp plan 26

1,812 (based on 40% non-refundable research and development tax offset claimants)

1,754

1,600

Administer the program in accordance with the law

1.10 Research and Development Tax Incentive – Number of claims processed for 43.5% refundable research & development tax offset claimants

PBS 206
Corp plan 26

11,262 (based on 45% refundable research and development tax offset claimants)

11,402

10,819

Administer the program in accordance with the law

1.10 Research and Development Tax Incentive – Proportion of offsets processed within service standard timeframes

PBS 206
Corp plan 26

42.4%

76%

89.7%

Administer the program in accordance with the law

1.11 Low Income Superannuation Tax Offset – Value of entitlements paid

PBS 207
Corp plan 26

$793.5m

$779.3m

$743.4m

Administer the program in accordance with the law

1.12 Private Health Insurance Rebate – Value of rebates processed

PBS 207
Corp plan 26

$249.2m

$248.8m

$239.7m

Administer the program in accordance with the law

1.13 Superannuation Co-contribution Scheme – Value of entitlements paid

PBS 208
Corp plan 26

$147.8m
distributed

$125.8m

$125.9m

Administer the program in accordance with the law

See the following table for Program 1.14 – Superannuation Guarantee Scheme

1.15 Targeted Assistance through the Taxation System – Value of interest payments processed

PBS 211
Corp plan 26

$14.2m

$14.9m

$27.7m

Administer the program in accordance with the law

1.16: Interest on Overpayments and Early Payments of Tax – Value of credit interest applied to client accounts due to processing performance

PBS 211
Corp plan 26

$29.8m

$13.0m

$9.4m

Administer the program in accordance with the law

1.17 Bad and Doubtful Debts – Provision for bad and doubtful debts as a proportion of total tax receivables

PBS 212
Corp plan 25

36%

35%

34%

Below 35%

1.18 Seafarer Tax Offset – All eligible taxpayers are aware of how to claim the offset

PBS 212
Corp plan 25

100%

100%

100%

100%

NOTES

(a) For 2016–17 the research and development tax offset percentage was 40%. It was changed to 38.5% in 2017–18.

(b) For 2016–17 the research and development tax offset percentage was 45%. It was changed to 43.5% in 2017–18.

Results analysis - programs 1.5 to 1.13 and 1.15 to 1.18

We use our systems, processes and controls to establish and maintain confidence that the correct level of payments and transfers delivered through the tax and superannuation systems are paid to eligible recipients in accordance with relevant laws, thus meeting our performance target for many of our administered program measures.

In many instances, small annual fluctuations in the value of benefits arise due to minor changes in economic conditions or the circumstances of our clients. However, there are some programs where a more substantial change in the value of benefits was observed in 2018–19. There is considerable interest in the Superannuation Guarantee scheme and changes in the number and value of liabilities raised by the ATO. Further discussion of these cases is provided below.

Administered program 1.15: Targeted Assistance through the Taxation System

The significant increase in the value of interest paid in the 2018–19 financial year can be attributed to:

  • The reuniting campaigns that were conducted during the 2018–19 year including the proactive payments of unclaimed super money for those over 65 years old and amounts below $200.
  • The improvement resulting from the MAAS and MATS implementation. As we are now receiving near real time information on the clients, this enables prompter matching of information. As a result of us being able to match our client data better and faster, we have paid out interest retrospectively in that year on the unclaimed super monies accounts that we have held for a number of years.
  • The client awareness campaigns that we have run resulting in more clients joining myGov and consolidating their accounts.

Performance results – program 1.14

.

Program 1.14 Superannuation Guarantee Scheme

Performance criterion

Source

2016–17 Results

2017–18 Results

2018–19 Results

2018–19 Target

Number of superannuation guarantee complaints leading to:

PBS 209
Corp plan 26

- a superannuation liability being raised

5,598

13,441

10,917

Administer the program in accordance with the law

- no result

7,060

5,472

3,804

Number of employees who have had superannuation guarantee entitlements raised as a result of:

PBS 209
Corp plan 26

- ATO compliance activities

69,705

237,945

173,876

Administer the program in accordance with the law

- voluntary disclosures

77,344

77,785

105,463

Number of:

PBS 209
Corp plan 26

- employers whose records are checked

16,874

24,106

22,236

Administer the program in accordance with the law

- checks leading to a superannuation liability being raised

7,700

16,416

15,965

Proportion of employers for whom superannuation guarantee liabilities were raised by the ATO

PBS 209
Corp plan 26

0.9%

1.8%

1.7%

Administer the program in accordance with the law

Value of superannuation guarantee charge:

PBS 209
Corp plan 25

- raised (including penalties and interest)

$603.5m

$1,107.2m

$1,069.2m

$841m

- collected

$282.9m

$440.9m

$576.6m

$311m

Value of superannuation guarantee entitlements distributed to individuals or superannuation funds

PBS 210
Corp plan 25

$281.1m

$401.6m

$532.3m

$285m

Value of superannuation guarantee debt:

PBS 210
Corp plan 25

- on hand

$1.5b

$1.9b

$2.2b

$3.4b

- irrecoverable at law or uneconomical to pursue

$167.0m

$238.8m

$191.7m

$178m
Results analysis - program 1.14
Administered program 1.14: Superannuation Guarantee Scheme

Positive trends observed in 2017–18 with regard to superannuation guarantee funds collected and distributed to individuals and super funds continued in 2018–19, driven by a higher collection rate of compliance-related debt.

There was a decrease in case numbers across most of the superannuation guarantee measures. However the number of employees with entitlements raised as a result of voluntary disclosures increased substantially compared to 2017–18.

Visit

https://www.transparency.gov.au/annual-reports/australian-taxation-office/reporting-year/2018-2019-16