The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) says it will ask for five years’ policy information from more than 30 insurance companies about taxpayers who own high-value assets.

The Insurance Council of Australia told insuranceNEWS.com.au insurers have no option but to comply with the request, which is part of an effort to crack down on fraud.

The ATO says it expects to receive information on about 350,000 taxpayers owning assets such as boats, racehorses, fine art, luxury motor vehicles and aircraft.

“If a taxpayer is reporting a taxable income of $70,000 to us but we know they own a $3 million yacht then this is likely to raise some red flags,” Deputy Commissioner Deborah Jenkins said.

“Regardless of your level of wealth, we all need to pay the correct amount of tax, and this data will allow us to ensure those people who can afford these kinds of items are doing the right thing, along with everyone else.”

Ms Jenkins says the data will not automatically spark compliance activity.

“Taxpayers selected for compliance activities are identified through other methodologies. The data is made available to our compliance teams to support their risk profiling of the selected taxpayers.

“Existence of an insurance policy may or may not prompt the compliance officer to pursue a particular line of enquiry”.

As well as helping identify taxpayers under-stating their income, the data from insurers could be used to find people who have failed to declare capital gains on the disposal of assets.

Insurers will be required to provide the ATO with detailed policy information where the value of assets is equal to or exceeds the following thresholds:

• Marine vessels – $100,000

• Motor vehicles – $65,000

• Thoroughbred horses – $65,000

• Fine art – $100,000 per item

• Aircraft – $150,000

This is not the first time the ATO has forced insurers to reveal such information. Its “lifestyle assets data-matching program” has been in place since February 2016.