ABR Help

Privacy Statement

The information requested in these applications is authorised by one or more of the following Acts:

A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999
Income Tax Assessment Act 1936
A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999
A New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax) Act 1999
A New Tax System (Luxury Car Tax) Act 1999
Fuel Tax Act 2006
Energy Grants Credits Scheme Act 2003
Product Grants and Benefits Administration Act 2000
Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986
Taxation Administration Act 1953
Superannuation Industry (Superannuation) Act 1993.

The information will help us to administer those Acts and the taxation law.

Publicly available information and your privacy

Some of the information collected in this application form will appear on the Australian Business Register (ABR). The information listed below is available, for free, by phoning the Tax Office on 13 28 66 between 8:00am and 6:00pm, Monday to Friday or by visiting the following website www.abr.business.gov.au

ABN
ABN status (date of effect of your ABN registration)
entity name
entity type (such as company, sole trader, trust or superannuation fund)
trading name (trading or business name)
state (from the address you provide as your main business address)
postcode (from the address you provide as your main business address)
goods and services tax (GST) registration (status, date of effect and cancellation)
deductible gift recipient status and date/s of effect (if applicable)
tax concession charity status and date/s of effect (if applicable)
income tax exempt status and date/s of effect (if applicable)
Australian Company Number (ACN) or Australian Registered Body Number (ARBN) (if applicable)
the date of an ABN change - if the Registrar of the ABR (the Registrar) has changed the entity’s ABN
the date of an ABN cancellation – if the Registrar has cancelled the entity’s registration in the ABR.

Some, or all, of this information may be regularly provided in bulk to third parties using the internet or alternate electronic means. A fee to cover administrative costs of providing this information may be charged for this service.

A printout of this information is also available as a certified extract of the ABR.

If an entity requests a certified copy of its own register details, this will be provided free of charge. The extract will contain all of the information set out above, plus additional information including the full address for service of notices, correspondence and email addresses.

If you request a certified copy of another entity’s register details, you will be charged a fee of $20 for the first page (a standard certified extract is usually one page), and 10 cents for any subsequent pages. You will be provided with the same information that is available to the public online (for free) through the following website www.abr.business.gov.au

All requests for certified extracts need be in writing and sent to:

The Assistant Registrar
Australian Business Register
Australian Taxation Office
PO Box 341
NEWCASTLE NSW 2300

Other information is not available to the public

The remainder of the information you supply on this application will not be available to the public, but may be made available to government agencies as explained below.

Information relating to an entity who has been refused ABN registration is not publicly available.

Information available to government agencies authorised by law to receive it

The ABN has been implemented in response to requests from business for a single number to streamline their interactions with all levels of government. To help businesses and government interact more easily, under certain circumstances, the Registrar may disclose information provided by the entity to other Commonwealth, state, territory and local government agencies.

The Registrar may provide some of this information to other Australian government agencies authorised by law to receive it – for example, law enforcement agencies such as the National Crime Authority and Australian Federal Police, revenue agencies such as the Australian Customs Service, benefit payment agencies such as Centrelink and the Health Insurance Commission, and other agencies such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Data may also be provided to state, territory and local government agencies such as law enforcement agencies, benefit payment agencies and revenue offices carrying out functions under taxation law.

Details of the government agencies regularly receiving information from the ABR are listed on the ABR Partners page or can be requested by phoning 13 28 66 between 8.00am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday – a list of agencies will be emailed, faxed or posted.

These agencies may use ABR information for purposes authorised by their legislation or for carrying out other functions of their agency. Examples of possible uses include registration, reporting, compliance and validation and updating of databases.

The Registrar of the ABR requires all government agencies to detail their specific use of ABR information and sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) before they can access ABR information or interact with the ABR. The MOU sets out a common understanding between parties and ensures the Registrar has considered the appropriate use of ABR information under the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999.

In addition to the publicly available information detailed above, the information available to these agencies includes the:

name of the entity’s public officer
name of the entity’s trustee or trustees
entity’s address for service of notices
entity’s principal place of business
entity’s email address
Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) code for the business conducted by the entity.

Other information is not made available to government agencies

Information relating to an entity who has been refused ABN registration is not made available to government agencies.

Quoting your tax file number (TFN)

You are under no legal obligation to quote your TFN or the TFNs of associates in the ABN application form. However, failure to do so may increase the risk of administrative error and/or delay this registration.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is authorised by the Taxation Administration Act 1953 to request, but not compel, you to provide your TFN or that of an associate. This information is needed to correctly identify you as well as to administer the taxation laws.

Privacy concerns

In exceptional circumstances, you can request that certain information, that would otherwise be made available to the public, be suppressed. This includes cases where a person fears for their safety or that of their family.

If you want to apply to the Registrar to withhold some of the details available to the public about the entity, please provide a letter detailing the information to be suppressed, a copy of any supporting material and the reasons for the suppression. You can enclose this information with the application and mail it to:

The Assistant Registrar
Australian Business Register
Australian Taxation Office
PO Box 9977
NEWCASTLE NSW 2300

If you have privacy concerns you can obtain further information from the Privacy Commissioner’s website, www.privacy.gov.au or you can phone the ATO on 13 28 66 between 8.00am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday.