A key accounting body has welcomed a decision by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) not to close off access to its Private Binding Ruling register.
The Taxation Institute of Australia president, Joan Roberts, described the ATO’s decision as a win for transparency.
Roberts said that the ATO’s decision represented a sensible outcome that recognised the importance of the register to providing the necessary checks and balances in taxation administration.
The Taxation Institute had been among those bodies lobbying the ATO following its announcement in November, last year, that it proposed closing down public access to the register.
Roberts said the Taxation Institute also welcomed the announcement by the ATO that it would be referring administration of the private binding rulings system to the Inspector General of Taxation for possible inclusion in the Inspector General’s forward work program.
