• The federal government is trialling new rules that will tighten ATO reporting requirements for gig economy operators and employees.
• As the gig economy expands to include more industries in Australia, it is increasingly facing regulation to improve safety and transparency.
• Experts say the proposed legislation signals the gig economy will face more scrutiny from the government moving forward.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Food delivery, ride-sharing and accommodation platforms like Uber, Deliveroo and Airbnb are set to be included in a new tax crackdown that will require gig economy workers and platform operators to report more data to the government.

As the gig economy grows to include more industries and employees, the Australian Treasury has announced it is looking at a third-party reporting scheme that could add millions of GST payments to Australian states.

While the rules were announced in late 2019, the federal government is pushing ahead for them to come into effect next year.

The plan is part of efforts to crack down on Australia’s $50 billion cash economy, which the government says costs as much as 3% of GDP every year.

The tax reporting obligations for the sharing economy are set to be toughened from July 1, 2022 for Uber drivers and Airbnb users, followed by food delivery and other gig services like Airtasker in 2023.

Airbnb has said it supported the new reporting rules, which will cover sharing assets including cars, personal services, creative professions and odd-job services like deliveries and furniture assembly.

The proposed legislation comes amid an acceleration in legal and policy changes that seek to better regulate the expanding gig economy and the platforms that enable it.

In mid-June UK-based food delivery platform Deliveroo challenged a ruling by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) that found a worker was more like an employee despite being classified as an independent contractor by the company — the first time the gig platform’s worker classifications had been challenged by the Australian legal system.

And, marking a milestone for the gig economy in Australia, food delivery platform Menulog began its trial of adopting an employment model in Sydney’s CBD, following scrutiny over worker safety and compensation by food delivery platforms.

Tony Greco, general manager for technical policy at the Institute of Public Accountants, told the Australian Financial Review that the new proposals signalled a growing awareness of the need for more transparency and accountability for this “significant and growing sector of the economy.”

Greco said the government’s new rules highlighted a lack of transparency on transactions conducted on platforms including Airbnb, Uber and Airtasker.

“It will, I think, create a structural shift in attitudes once it becomes common knowledge that the ATO is being informed of the transactions taking place,” he said.

“Participants will have nowhere to hide once the reporting regime takes hold which will lead to a level playing field with other sources of income such as wages.

“Obscurity will no longer be an option going forward.”

Simone Bridges, partner at law firm Baker & McKenzie said the increasing number of Australian consumers and businesses participating in the sharing economy had led to increased scrutiny.

“For several years, the government has been considering the potential options for imposing reporting obligations on companies that operate platforms that facilitate the sharing and gig economies,” Bridges said.

“This concept has a very broad reach, effectively capturing certain websites, internet portals, online stores, or marketplaces that are delivered by means of electronic communication.

“The draft legislation signals that platforms facilitating the sharing and gig economy are going to have more direct obligations with the ATO in terms of reporting.”

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