FOI Decision Letter. Number Of Taxpayers Who Were Issued A Division 293 Tax Notice Of Assessment For The 2022-23 And 2023-24 Financial Years.
ATO
AI summary
The ATO released a document created in response to an FOI request containing the number of taxpayers issued Division 293 tax notices of assessment for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years. Division 293 applies a 15% tax on certain concessional superannuation contributions exceeding annual thresholds for high-income earners. The ATO's Superannuation and Employee Obligations division searched relevant systems and produced the requested statistical data, which the decision maker granted in full without exemptions or deletions. The document was made available through the ATO's Disclosure Log, with the decision based on section 17 of the FOI Act, which requires agencies to compile information from computer systems when requested in discrete written form.
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Reply to: GPO Box 4889 SYDNEY NSW 2001 OFFICIAL Australian Government Australian Taxation Office Mr Fraser Tweedale Right to Know By email only to: foi+request-14218-d2b89d43@righttoknow.org.au Our reference: FOI-2026-00088 Contact officer: Y Zhong Email: foi@ato.gov.au 20 February 2026 # Decision regarding your Freedom of Information request Dear Applicant, The purpose of this letter is to give you a decision about access to documents that you requested under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). # Summary I am an officer authorised under subsection 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to FOI requests. On 23 January 2026, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) received your request for access to documents. Specifically, you sought access to the following documents: '(1). Documents showing the number of taxpayers who were issued a Division 293 tax notice of assessment for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years.' # Documents identified In response to your request, I consulted with the relevant business area within the ATO, Superannuation and Employee Obligations (SEO), and had officers from that area conduct a reasonable search of all relevant ATO computer systems or hard copy files that may contain documents within the scope of your request. A document containing the information requested has been created pursuant to section 17 of the FOI Act. This document contains the number of taxpayers who were issued a Division 293 tax notice of assessment for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years. # Decision With regard to the document produced, I have decided to grant you access in full. In accordance with section 11C of the FOI Act, the document I have decided to release to you is being made available through the ATO's Disclosure Log at: https://iorder.com.au/foi/SearchFoi.aspx. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL ## Material taken into account I have taken the following material into account in making my decision: - the terms of your request; - the content of the document that falls within the scope of your request; - the FOI Act; - consultation with relevant business area of the ATO, in particular SEO; and - the guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) under section 93A of the FOI Act (the FOI Guidelines). ## Reasons for decision ### Section 17 – requests involving use of computers Subsection 17(1) of the FOI Act provides that where a request is made for information that is not available in discrete form in the written documents of an agency, and the agency could produce a written document containing the information in discrete form by the use of a computer (or other equipment ordinarily available for retrieving and collating stored information), the agency shall deal with the request as if it were a request for access to a written document so produced and containing that information. Subsection 17(2) of the FOI Act provides that agencies are not required to comply with subsection 17(1) where doing so would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the agency from its other operations. In considering your request, enquiries were made to determine whether it was possible to access and collate the information you sought to obtain. In response to these enquiries, a document was able to be produced with the number of taxpayers who were issued a Division 293 tax notice of assessment for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years. ## Your review rights If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply for internal review or Information Commissioner review of the decision. We encourage you to seek internal review as a first step as it may provide a more rapid resolution of your concerns. ## Internal review Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in writing to the ATO for an internal review of my decision. The internal review application must be made within 30 days of the date of this letter, quoting our reference number at the top of this letter, and be lodged in one of the following ways: email: FOI@ato.gov.au post: Australian Taxation Office, Office of General Counsel, GPO Box 4889, Sydney NSW 2001. Where possible please attach reasons why you believe review of the decision is necessary. The internal review will be carried out by another officer within 30 days. If you have not been informed of the outcome of the review within that time, you may apply to the Australian Information Commissioner under section 54L of the FOI Act. ## Australian Information Commissioner review Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) to review my decision. An application for review by the OAIC must be made in writing within 60 days of the date of this letter, and be lodged in one of the following ways: OFFICIAL OFFICIAL online: https://forms.business.gov.au/smartforms/servlet/SmartForm.html?formCode=ICR_10 email: foidr@oaic.gov.au post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001 Visit the OAIC website, https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-complaints/information-commissioner-review/, for more information about Australian Information Commissioner review. ## Complaints Any complaint about the processing of your FOI request can be forwarded to the OAIC. The complaint needs to be in writing and identify the agency against which the complaint is made. There is no particular form required to make a complaint, however using the online form is preferable. online: https://forms.business.gov.au/smartforms/servlet/SmartForm.html?formCode=ICCA_1 email: foidr@oaic.gov.au post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001 The Information Commissioner can be contacted on 1300 363 992. ## Questions about this decision If you have any questions, please contact foi@ato.gov.au. Yours sincerely Y Zhong Senior Lawyer Office of General Counsel Australian Taxation Office OFFICIAL