Design in the Australian Taxation Office

Abstract

Use of Design in the ATO Paying tax is the same as purchasing any other product or service. We pay out money to receive goods and services as a community— just like any other payment that we voluntarily make. So why do people feel differently about paying tax? The difference is that the link between the money we pay out and the goods and services we receive is less direct than most transactions we undertake. And the price varies depending on what we can afford to pay. The goods and services that we receive include defense, policing, health care, education, roads, infrastructure, social, economic, and environmental programs, and income redistribution to those whose need is greater than others. The services are delivered at the federal, state, and local government levels but, in Australia, a large proportion of the taxes are collected at the federal level by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The ATO employs about 20,000 staff, collects more than ninety-five percent of the federal government’s revenue; and serves ten million individual taxpayers and three million businesses. The federal government depends on the taxation system to provide the revenue to fund economic and social systems. It wants the tax system to ensure that people pay their fair share. Most Australians agree that people should pay their fair share of taxes. An A. C. Neilson survey conducted in 2003 found that, in response to the statement “I think it is important that everybody pays their fair share of tax,” ninety-seven percent of respondents agreed.1 The government uses the tax system to impose additional costs or to provide benefits where it believes this is fair. This makes the tax system more complex to administer, but achieves the government’s desire for fairness. In recent years, the ATO has adopted a design approach to the development of the tax administration system. 1 A. C. Neilson, Community Perceptions Survey (unpublished, Canberra, June 2003).