As a Commonwealth entity within the Treasury portfolio, the ATO is accountable under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act) and the Public Service Act 1999 (PS Act).

Our ministers

The ministers with responsibility for matters relating to the tax and superannuation systems in 2018–19 were:

• The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer – from 24 August 2018
• The Hon. Scott Morrison MP, Treasurer – from 1 July 2018 to 24 August 2018
• The Hon. Michael Sukkar MP
  • Minister for Housing and Assistant Treasurer – from 29 May 2019
  • Assistant Minister to the Treasurer – from 1 July 2018 to 28 August 2018
• The Hon. Stuart Robert MP, Assistant Treasurer – from 28 August 2018 to 28 May 2019
• The Hon. Kelly O’Dwyer MP, Minister for Revenue and Financial Services – from 1 July 2018 to 28 August 2018
• Senator the Hon. Jane Hume, Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Technology – from 29 May 2019.

Senator the Hon. Zed Seselja was the minister responsible for the ACNC during 2018–19 as:

• Assistant Minister for Finance, Charities and Electoral Matters – from 29 May 2019
• Assistant Minister for Treasury and Finance – from 28 August 2018 to 29 May 2019.

For more information on our ministers, see ministers.treasury.gov.au.

ATO’s role and responsibilities

The Commissioner of Taxation is responsible for administering Australia’s tax system and significant aspects of Australia’s superannuation system. For the purposes of the PGPA Act, the Commissioner is the accountable authority for the ATO, the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) and the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). He is also the Registrar of the Australian Business Register (ABR).

The ATO operates as the Australian Government’s principal revenue collection agency, administering the legislation governing tax, and supporting the delivery of government benefits to the community. We are responsible for:

• collecting revenue
• administering the goods and services tax (GST) on behalf of the Australian states and territories
• governing a range of programs that result in transfers and benefits back to the community
• administering major aspects of Australia’s superannuation system
• custodianship of the government’s Australian Business Register.

The TPB and ACNC operate independently of the ATO and each produces its own annual report. Their reports are available at tpb.gov.au and acnc.gov.au, respectively.

Scale of our activitiesNOTE: The ATO interacts with the groups shown in the above figure