The Budget continues the Government’s focus on tax system integrity, with new funding to strengthen the prevention, detection and response to fraud across the tax and superannuation systems.
The Government will provide $86.3 million over four years from 1 July 2026, with ongoing funding of $9.7 million per year from 2030–31, to deliver Phase 2 of the Counter Fraud Strategy. The focus of the measure is to modernise how fraud is prevented and detected across the tax and super systems. Overall, the measure is estimated to increase tax receipts by $217.8 million over the five years from 2025–26.
The funding will allow the ATO to detect fraud earlier and in real time, strengthen protections for individuals, and expand monitoring of suspicious access to tax accounts, including where tax agents or intermediaries are involved. The ATO will be able to pause and, in appropriate cases, waive tax debts for fraud victims and instead recover amounts from responsible intermediaries. Garnishee powers will also be expanded to jointly held assets.
Unsurprisingly, the funding is accompanied by measures to enhance the ATO’s information gathering powers and increase targeted compliance activity from 2026–27, including in relation to the R&D Tax Incentive.
