Government policy alignment

SBR has also been identified as a mechanism to streamline other business-to-government reporting to reduce the compliance burden. Recommendations regarding the future expansion of SBR are included in Ahead of the game-Blueprint For The Reform Of Australian Government Administration (Moran report), Australia’s Future Tax System (Henry report) and Super System Review (Cooper report) and in a number of Productivity Commission reports.

The Productivity Commission has also noted the importance of clear and firm announcements by the Australian Government and its agencies about their forward commitments to SBR.

Important recent developments in this regard are:

  • The ATO has announced its intention to change the current electronic lodgment service (ELS) to SBR technology by 2015-2016. The ATO will be co-designing the implementation of this change with software developers and the tax agent community, commencing with meetings in February 2012.
  • SBR standards will be the basis for business-to-business messaging for a part of the Government’s superannuation reform agenda, SuperStream. This work will extend the use of SBR standards beyond the current business-to-government framework.

Last updated: 03 May 2012
Page ID: 12449