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Access_ATO

Project Info

Team Name


Date Night


Team Members


Daniel and 1 other member with an unpublished profile.

Project Description


Majority of tax gaps come from individuals and small businesses.
These include vulnerable people, such as gig workers, migrants and CALD groups. For people who undertake work via digital platforms as part of the gig economy, it is known that superannuation is often not paid to contractors.

The ATO does not use enough easy English with information. Nor promote ATO information that is available in different languages that is easy to access.

Migrant and CALD populations around Australia may not have heard about the Tax Help program. This vulnerable group is not eligible for the Tax Help program if they work as a contractor or run a business, including as a sole trader.

According to the ABS 2021 Census, 5.8 million people (22.8%) reported using a language other than English at home. When English is a new or second language, it creates barriers to understanding ATO obligations as a contractor. ATO processes have not been simplified for migrant and CALD groups.
One of the major obstacles to tax success is inability to reach ATO customer support, due to high call demand and calls not being answered.

Therefore, we can help vulnerable groups by improving features to the ATO online services with the AccessATO app.


#ato #ai

Data Story


We first analysed the ATO tax gaps dataset, which indicated that the bulk of the ATO’s tax gap comes from individuals and small businesses. We then looked at the ATO Taxation statistics dataset from 2021-2022, which gave us an indication of which groups of people report business income on their tax returns, especially among those with non-resident status.

From this, along with some additional brainstorming and research, we identified gig economy workers as a key group which may need additional support in meeting their tax obligations, as these are typically individuals doing their own taxes with limited support, and who are also not eligible for the tax help program.

The AccessATO app:

Integrated into the existing myGov/ATO website.

Uses live chat to allow easier access to ATO customer support.

Uses AI chatbot to collect pre-authentication information, to save time for ATO staff (because they won't need to spend time asking for ID etc.)

Live chat/text format allows for machine translation to make it easier to communicate with CALD groups.

Ability for support agents to move live chat session to a voice call efficiently - get real-time confirmation from both sides, to allow voice call to be established between customer and support agent without waiting in a queue, or having the support agent wait for the customer if they are not available.

Link with TIS services for voice calls, or in case of reliability issues with machine translation.


Evidence of Work

Video

Team DataSets

Australian Tax Gaps

Description of Use Used to identify where the biggest tax gaps are coming from

Data Set

Australian Taxation Office | Taxation Statistics 2021-22 | Individuals - Table 13

Description of Use Used to identify groups with business income tax liabilities based on sex, age range, and residency status

Data Set

Challenge Entries

AI in Governance

How can governments use AI to boost efficiency and transparency in public sector operations while addressing concerns regarding ethics, data privacy, and public trust?

Go to Challenge | 35 teams have entered this challenge.

Tax inclusion for vulnerable groups

How can we use open government data to identify vulnerable or at-risk groups who face barriers or challenges in complying with the tax and super systems, and design or improve digital solutions to help them meet their obligations and access their entitlements?

Go to Challenge | 14 teams have entered this challenge.