README.md

---
configs:
- config_name: edited_private_advice
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: edited_private_advice_all.jsonl
- config_name: ato_interpretative_decisions
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: ato_interpretative_decisions.jsonl
- config_name: public_rulings
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: public_all.jsonl
- config_name: practical_compliance_guidelines
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: practical_compliance_guidelines.jsonl
- config_name: taxpayer_alerts
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: taxpayer_alerts_all.jsonl
- config_name: decision_impact_statements
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: decision_impact_statements_all.jsonl
- config_name: law_admin_practice_statements
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: law_admin_practice_statements_all.jsonl
- config_name: legislative_instruments
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: legislative_instruments_all.jsonl
- config_name: frl_principal_legislation
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: frl_principal_legislation_all.jsonl
- config_name: frl_legislation_history
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: frl_legislation_history_all.jsonl
- config_name: frl_legislation_with_history
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: frl_legislation_with_history_all.jsonl
tags:
- law
- tax
- australia
- rag
- nlp
- legal
- finance
- ato
- ATOLaw
- taxation
- rulings
- advice
- question-answering
- text-retrieval
- fine-tuning
- legal-nlp
- domain-specific
language:
- en
license: cc-by-3.0
pretty_name: ATO Tax Legal Rulings — Structured AI Dataset
size_categories:
- 100K<n<1M
---
# ATO Tax Legal Rulings — Structured AI Dataset

> **Australian tax law dataset** — ATO Interpretative Decisions, public rulings, determinations, practical compliance guidelines, and taxpayer alerts, plus the full text and amendment history of the ATO-administered Acts (ITAA 1997, ITAA 1936, GST Act, TAA 1953 and more) sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation — structured for legal RAG, LLM fine-tuning, and tax research automation. 60,000+ ATO documents as RAG-ready NDJSON/CSV. 

Machine-readable extracts of Australian Tax Office (ATO) legal documents, scraped from the [ATO Legal Database](https://www.ato.gov.au/single-page-applications/legaldatabase#Law). Each row is one ruling, decision, or guideline — fully parsed into structured columns (CSV) or JSON fields (NDJSON), with all multi-value entries pipe-delimited for downstream NLP, RAG ingestion, and legal AI over Australian tax law (ITAA 1997, ITAA 1936, GST Act).

The dataset also includes a **legislation layer** built from the [Federal Register of Legislation](https://www.legislation.gov.au): the principal ATO-administered Acts split into one row per provision, a reconstructed per-section amendment history from Crown-copyright FRL endnotes).

## File formats

Each dataset is published in two parallel files with identical content and field order:

| Format | Filename pattern | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| **CSV** (UTF-8) | `<dataset>.csv` | Pandas, spreadsheets, SQL bulk-load |
| **NDJSON / JSON Lines** | `<dataset>.jsonl` | `datasets.load_dataset()`, streaming, jq, DuckDB, RAG ingestion |

JSON keys are identical to CSV column names — the schema tables below describe both formats.

---

## Contents

- [Dataset Splits](#dataset-splits)
- [Quick Start](#quick-start)
- [Schema](#schema)
  - [Edited Private Advice](#1-edited-private-advice-edited_private_advice)
  - [ATO Interpretative Decisions](#2-ato-interpretative-decisions-ato_interpretative_decisions)
  - [Public Rulings & Determinations](#3-public-rulings--determinations-public_rulings)
  - [Practical Compliance Guidelines](#4-practical-compliance-guidelines-practical_compliance_guidelines)
  - [Taxpayer Alerts](#5-taxpayer-alerts-taxpayer_alerts)
  - [Decision Impact Statements](#6-decision-impact-statements-decision_impact_statements)
  - [Law Administration Practice Statements](#7-law-administration-practice-statements-law_admin_practice_statements)
  - [Legislative Instruments](#8-legislative-instruments-legislative_instruments)
  - [Principal Legislation](#9-principal-legislation-frl_principal_legislation)
  - [Legislation Amendment History](#10-legislation-amendment-history-frl_legislation_history)
  - [Legislation + History Notes](#11-legislation--history-notes-frl_legislation_with_history)
- [Use Cases](#use-cases)
- [Limitations](#limitations)
- [Support the Project](#support-the-project)
- [Source & Licensing](#source--licensing)
- [Citation](#citation)
- [Terms of Service](#terms-of-service)


---

## Dataset Splits

| Split | Document Type | Est. Documents | Coverage | CSV file | NDJSON file |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| `edited_private_advice` | Edited Private Advice (EPA) — all years in one file | ~50,000 | 2011–present | `edited_private_advice_all.csv` | `edited_private_advice_all.jsonl` |
| `ato_interpretative_decisions` | ATO Interpretative Decisions (ATO ID) | ~10,000 | All years | `ato_interpretative_decisions.csv` | `ato_interpretative_decisions.jsonl` |
| `public_rulings` | Public Rulings & Determinations | ~5,500 | All years | `public_all.csv` | `public_all.jsonl` |
| `practical_compliance_guidelines` | Practical Compliance Guidelines (PCG) | ~110 | All years | `practical_compliance_guidelines.csv` | `practical_compliance_guidelines.jsonl` |
| `taxpayer_alerts` | Taxpayer Alerts (TA) — ATO's early-warning watch list | ~150 | 2002–present | `taxpayer_alerts_all.csv` | `taxpayer_alerts_all.jsonl` |
| `decision_impact_statements` | Decision Impact Statements (DIS) — ATO's response to court rulings | ~555 | 2006–present | `decision_impact_statements_all.csv` | `decision_impact_statements_all.jsonl` |
| `law_admin_practice_statements` | Law Administration Practice Statements (PS LA) | ~500 | All years | `law_admin_practice_statements_all.csv` | `law_admin_practice_statements_all.jsonl` |
| `legislative_instruments` | Legislative Instruments (OPS) — instruments, determinations, and notices made under tax legislation | ~950 | All years | `legislative_instruments_all.csv` | `legislative_instruments_all.jsonl` |
| `frl_principal_legislation` | **Principal legislation** — current text of every section of the 22 ATO-administered Acts (ITAA 1997/1936, GST, FBTAA, TAA, super, fuel tax…) | ~10,000 sections | Current compilation | `frl_principal_legislation_all.csv` | `frl_principal_legislation_all.jsonl` |
| `frl_legislation_history` | **Amendment history** — one row per amendment event (which provision, what action, which amending Act, commencement date) | ~43,000 events | 1986–present | `frl_legislation_history_all.csv` | `frl_legislation_history_all.jsonl` |
| `frl_legislation_with_history` | **Legislation + history notes** — each section joined to its chronological amendment history (the ATO "see history notes" view, rebuilt from FRL) | ~10,000 sections | Current + history | `frl_legislation_with_history_all.csv` | `frl_legislation_with_history_all.jsonl` |

---

## Quick Start

### Option A — NDJSON via `datasets` (recommended for ML)

```python
from datasets import load_dataset

# Use a named config — viewer-friendly, strongly typed schema
ds = load_dataset(
    "simplelex/ATO-Australian-Tax-Law-Dataset",
    "edited_private_advice",
    split="train",
)
print(ds[0])

# Available configs: edited_private_advice · ato_interpretative_decisions · public_rulings
#   practical_compliance_guidelines · taxpayer_alerts · decision_impact_statements
#   law_admin_practice_statements · legislative_instruments · frl_principal_legislation
#   frl_legislation_history · frl_legislation_with_history
```

### Option B — NDJSON via pandas

```python
import pandas as pd

df = pd.read_json("edited_private_advice_all.jsonl", lines=True)
active = df[df["Is_Archived"] == False]
print(active[["Authorisation_Number", "Subject", "Date_of_Advice"]].head())
```

### Option C — CSV via pandas

```python
import pandas as pd

df = pd.read_csv("edited_private_advice_all.csv")
active = df[df["Is_Archived"] == False]
print(active[["Authorisation_Number", "Subject", "Date_of_Advice"]].head())
```

Multi-value fields (legislative references, ruling periods, related documents) use ` | ` as the internal delimiter in both formats:

```python
# Explode pipe-delimited legislative references into one row per provision
provisions = (
    active["Relevant_Legislative_Provisions"]
    .str.split(" | ")
    .explode()
    .str.strip()
    .value_counts()
)
print(provisions.head(10))
```

---

## Schema

The column tables below apply to **both** the CSV and NDJSON variants — every CSV column maps 1:1 to a JSON key of the same name in the corresponding `.jsonl` file, in the same order.

### Encoding conventions

| Convention | Detail |
|---|---|
| **Multi-value delimiter** | ` \| ` (space-pipe-space) within a single cell / string field |
| **Empty values** | Empty string `""` — never `NULL`, `N/A`, or JSON `null` |
| **Booleans** | `True` / `False` in CSV; same as JSON string values in NDJSON (the scrapers emit them as strings for round-trip parity with the CSV) |
| **Dates** | Verbatim as published by the ATO — no normalisation |

---

### 1. Edited Private Advice (`edited_private_advice`)

Private rulings issued to individual taxpayers, anonymised and edited for publication.

| Column | Type | Nullable | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `Authorisation_Number` | string | No | Primary key. ATO-assigned identifier, e.g. `1-2ABCDEF`. |
| `Date_of_Advice` | string | Yes | Date the private advice was issued, e.g. `1 July 2024`. Blank for older documents. |
| `Subject` | string | Yes | Single-sentence topic description, e.g. `Capital gains tax — main residence exemption`. |
| `Ruling` | string | Yes | All Q&A pairs concatenated: `Q1: [text] \| A1: [text] \| Q2: [text] \| A2: [text]`. |
| `Ruling_Period` | string | Yes | Income years the ruling applies to: `Year ending 30 June 20XX \| Year ending 30 June 20XX`. |
| `Date_Scheme_Commenced` | string | Yes | Date the relevant arrangement commenced. Blank when not stated. |
| `Relevant_Facts_and_Circumstances` | string | Yes | Full facts section, collapsed to single-space prose. |
| `Relevant_Legislative_Provisions` | string | Yes | Act/section references, e.g. `ITAA 1997 s104-10 \| ITAA 1997 s116-20`. |
| `Reasons_for_Decision` | string | Yes | Summary plus all sub-headings: `Summary: [text] \| Detailed Reasoning - [Sub-heading]: [text]`. |
| `Is_Archived` | boolean | No | `True` if the document carries an archival disclaimer. |
| `Source_URL` | string | No | Full URL, e.g. `https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=AEA/1-2ABCDEF`. |
| `Unmatched_Content` | string | Yes | Fallback capture: any article text not claimed by the structured fields (new/changed page formats), ` \| `-joined. Usually empty. |

---

### 2. ATO Interpretative Decisions (`ato_interpretative_decisions`)

Edited summaries of Tax Office internal decisions, released under FOI obligations.

| Column | Type | Nullable | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `ATO_ID_Number` | string | No | Primary key, e.g. `ATO ID 2010/101`. |
| `Status` | string | Yes | FOI/editorial status note as published. |
| `Title` | string | Yes | Short title of the decision. |
| `Issue` | string | Yes | The question put to the ATO. |
| `Decision` | string | Yes | The ATO's answer. |
| `Facts` | string | Yes | Relevant facts and circumstances. |
| `Reasons_for_Decision` | string | Yes | Reasoning supporting the decision. |
| `Date_of_Decision` | string | Yes | Date the decision was made, e.g. `2010/06/15`. |
| `Year_of_Income` | string | Yes | Income year to which the decision relates. |
| `Legislative_References` | string | Yes | Pipe-separated act/section references. |
| `Related_Public_Rulings_and_Determinations` | string | Yes | Related TR/TD/IT references, pipe-separated. |
| `Related_ATO_Interpretative_Decisions` | string | Yes | Related ATO ID numbers, pipe-separated. |
| `Subject_References` | string | Yes | ATO subject taxonomy tags, pipe-separated. |
| `Case_References` | string | Yes | Court/tribunal cases cited, full citation text preserved. |
| `Other_References` | string | Yes | Explanatory memoranda, dictionaries and other external citations. |
| `Business_Line` | string | Yes | ATO business line that issued the decision. |
| `Is_Archived` | boolean | No | `True` if the document is archived/superseded. |
| `Source_URL` | string | No | Full URL, e.g. `https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=AID/2010/101`. |
| `Unmatched_Content` | string | Yes | Fallback capture: any article text not claimed by the structured fields (new/changed page formats), ` \| `-joined. Usually empty. |

---

### 3. Public Rulings & Determinations (`public_rulings`)

Binding public rulings (TR, TD, IT, CR, PR) and legislative instruments issued by the Commissioner.

| Column | Type | Nullable | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `Document_Reference` | string | No | Primary key, e.g. `TR 2024/1`. |
| `Document_Type` | string | No | Full type name, e.g. `Ruling`, `Determination`. |
| `Document_Type_Code` | string | No | Short code: `TR`, `TD`, `IT`, `CR`, `PR`, etc. |
| `Title` | string | Yes | Full document title. |
| `Status` | string | Yes | `Final`, `Draft`, `Withdrawn`. |
| `Date_of_Issue` | string | Yes | Publication date, e.g. `1 July 2024`. |
| `Date_of_Effect` | string | Yes | Date from which the ruling applies. |
| `Date_of_Withdrawal` | string | Yes | Withdrawal date, if applicable. |
| `Withdrawal_Notice` | string | Yes | Full text of the `Withdrawal` / `Notice of Withdrawal` block (what was withdrawn and when); often the only record of the withdrawal date/reason when `Date_of_Withdrawal` is blank. |
| `What_This_Ruling_Is_About` | string | Yes | Scope statement from the document. |
| `Class_of_Entities_or_Scheme` | string | Yes | Who or what the ruling applies to. |
| `Ruling` | string | Yes | The operative ruling paragraphs. |
| `Examples` | string | Yes | Worked examples from the ruling. |
| `Appendix_Explanation` | string | Yes | Explanatory appendix text. |
| `Other_Appendices` | string | Yes | Any additional appendices. |
| `Previous_Rulings` | string | Yes | Documents this ruling replaces, pipe-separated. |
| `Related_Rulings` | string | Yes | Related ATO publications, pipe-separated. |
| `Compendium_Reference` | string | Yes | Cross-reference to the document's Compendium (Early Commentary) doc, e.g. `TR 2021/2EC`. |
| `Legislative_References` | string | Yes | Act/section references, pipe-separated. |
| `Case_References` | string | Yes | Court/tribunal cases cited, pipe-separated. |
| `Subject_References` | string | Yes | ATO subject taxonomy tags, pipe-separated. |
| `ATO_References` | string | Yes | Internal ATO reference numbers. |
| `Other_References` | string | Yes | Explanatory memoranda, dictionaries and external citations (distinct from the ATO file numbers in `ATO_References`). |
| `Is_Withdrawn` | boolean | No | `True` if the ruling has been withdrawn. |
| `Source_URL` | string | No | Full URL, e.g. `https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=TR/TR_2024/1`. |
| `Unmatched_Content` | string | Yes | Fallback capture: any article text not claimed by the structured fields (new/changed page formats), ` \| `-joined. Usually empty. |

---

### 4. Practical Compliance Guidelines (`practical_compliance_guidelines`)

Guidelines explaining how the ATO will administer specific areas of tax law, including safe harbours.

| Column | Type | Nullable | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `PCG_Number` | string | No | Primary key, e.g. `PCG 2020/2`. |
| `Document_Type` | string | No | `Final PCG` (published), `Draft PCG` (formal draft), or `Compendium` (EC / Early Commentary consultation draft). |
| `Title` | string | Yes | Full document title. |
| `Status` | string | Yes | `Current` (default for published PCGs), `Draft` (draft and EC consultation docs), or `Withdrawn`. |
| `Date_of_Issue` | string | Yes | Publication date. |
| `Date_of_Effect` | string | Yes | Date from which the guideline applies. |
| `Date_of_Withdrawal` | string | Yes | Withdrawal date, if applicable. |
| `Replaces` | string | Yes | Predecessor document(s), e.g. `PS LA 2011/18`. |
| `Related_Rulings_and_Determinations` | string | Yes | Related ATO publications, pipe-separated. |
| `Legislative_References` | string | Yes | Act/section references, pipe-separated. |
| `Other_References` | string | Yes | Explanatory memoranda, dictionaries and external citations. |
| `Summary` | string | Yes | One-paragraph executive summary. |
| `Purpose_and_Scope` | string | Yes | Who the guideline applies to and why. |
| `Background` | string | Yes | Context and policy history. |
| `Compliance_Approach` | string | Yes | The ATO's stated enforcement stance, including safe harbour thresholds. |
| `Examples` | string | Yes | Worked examples from the document. |
| `Appendices` | string | Yes | Appendix content. |
| `Other_Sections` | string | Yes | Any additional named sections. |
| `Compendium_Reference` | string | Yes | Reference to associated ruling compendium, if any. |
| `Is_Archived` | boolean | No | `True` if the document is archived. |
| `Is_Draft` | boolean | No | `True` for `Draft PCG` and `Compendium` (EC / Early Commentary) docs; `False` for finalized PCGs. |
| `Source_URL` | string | No | Full URL, e.g. `https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=PCG/PCG_2020/2`. |
| `Unmatched_Content` | string | Yes | Fallback capture: any article text not claimed by the structured fields (new/changed page formats), ` \| `-joined. Usually empty. |

---

### 5. Taxpayer Alerts (`taxpayer_alerts`)

The ATO's early-warning notices about tax avoidance schemes currently under review. High practitioner value: warns clients away from flagged arrangements before audit action begins.

| Column | Type | Nullable | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `Alert_Number` | string | No | Primary key, e.g. `TA 2026/1`. |
| `Title` | string | Yes | Full descriptive title of the alert. |
| `Date_of_Issue` | string | Yes | Date issued, e.g. `14 January 2026`. Blank when not stated. |
| `Status` | string | Yes | `Current` or `Withdrawn`. |
| `Overview` | string | Yes | Opening paragraphs describing the scheme, joined with ` \| `. |
| `Description` | string | Yes | Detailed description of the arrangement. |
| `Example` | string | Yes | Illustrative example, if included. |
| `Our_Concerns` | string | Yes | The ATO's specific legal concerns. |
| `What_ATO_Is_Doing` | string | Yes | Current ATO investigation or action status. |
| `What_You_Should_Do` | string | Yes | Practitioner guidance on how to respond. |
| `Related_Documents` | string | Yes | Pipe-separated document and legislative references from inline links. |
| `Is_Withdrawn` | boolean | No | `True` if the alert has been withdrawn. |
| `Source_URL` | string | No | Full document URL. |
| `Unmatched_Content` | string | Yes | Fallback capture: any article text not claimed by the structured fields (new/changed page formats), ` \| `-joined. Usually empty. |

---

### 6. Decision Impact Statements (`decision_impact_statements`)

The ATO's official response to court and tribunal decisions — whether it accepts the outcome, is appealing, or will update its public guidance. Critical for practitioners: a favourable court ruling means nothing if the ATO is going to the High Court.

| Column | Type | Nullable | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `Case_Name` | string | No | Full case citation, e.g. `Commissioner of Taxation v Bendel [2025] FCAFC 15`. |
| `Venue_Reference_No` | string | Yes | Court file number, e.g. `VID 903 of 2023`. |
| `Venue` | string | Yes | Court or tribunal, e.g. `Full Federal Court`. |
| `Judgment_Date` | string | Yes | Date of judgment, e.g. `19 February 2025`. |
| `Date_Published` | string | Yes | Date the DIS was published by the ATO. |
| `Document_Type` | string | No | `Decision Impact Statement` or `Interim Decision Impact Statement`. |
| `Decision_Outcome` | string | Yes | Court/tribunal result from the "Decision Outcome" section, e.g. `Adverse Full Federal Court decision`. |
| `Summary_of_Decision` | string | Yes | ATO's summary of what the court decided. |
| `Overview_of_Facts` | string | Yes | Factual background to the case. |
| `Issues_Decided` | string | Yes | Issues concatenated: `Issue 1 – [topic]: [text] \| Issue 2 – [topic]: [text]`. |
| `ATO_View_of_Decision` | string | Yes | **The critical field** — ATO's acceptance, appeal status, and guidance implications. |
| `Administrative_Treatment` | string | Yes | How the ATO will handle pending cases and objections. |
| `Related_Documents` | string | Yes | Pipe-separated document and legislative references. |
| `Legislative_References` | string | Yes | Legislative-references block (Acts plus section numbers, full text). |
| `Case_References` | string | Yes | Case-references block — full case citations including case-name text. |
| `Subject_References` | string | Yes | ATO subject-keyword taxonomy (not present in `Related_Documents`). |
| `Other_References` | string | Yes | Explanatory memoranda and external citations (distinct from the linked `Related_Documents`). |
| `Is_Interim` | boolean | No | `True` if this is an interim statement (appeal pending). |
| `Source_URL` | string | No | Full document URL. |
| `Unmatched_Content` | string | Yes | Fallback capture: any article text not claimed by the structured fields (new/changed page formats), ` \| `-joined. Usually empty. |

---

### 7. Law Administration Practice Statements (`law_admin_practice_statements`)

Internal ATO instructions to officers on how to apply the law in practice. Not legally binding on taxpayers but widely cited in audit correspondence and objection letters — practitioners use them to predict and contest ATO positions.

| Column | Type | Nullable | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `Statement_Reference` | string | No | Primary key, e.g. `PS LA 2026/1`. |
| `Title` | string | Yes | Subject line of the statement. |
| `Date_of_Issue` | string | Yes | Date issued. |
| `Date_of_Effect` | string | Yes | Date from which the statement applies. |
| `Document_Type` | string | No | `Law Administration Practice Statement`, `Draft Law Administration Practice Statement`, or `Law Administration Practice Statement (GA)`. |
| `Has_Compendium` | boolean | No | `True` if a compendium exists for this statement. |
| `Body` | string | Yes | All numbered sections concatenated: `1. [Heading]: [text] \| 2. [Heading]: [text] \| …`. |
| `Related_Documents` | string | Yes | Pipe-separated document and legislative references from inline links. |
| `Related_Practice_Statements` | string | Yes | PS LA → PS LA cross-references from the "Related Practice Statements" block, split out of the mashed `Related_Documents`. |
| `Legislative_References` | string | Yes | References from the `Legislative References:` block at end of page. |
| `Subject_References` | string | Yes | ATO subject-keyword taxonomy from the `Subject References` block. |
| `Other_References` | string | Yes | Explanatory memoranda, charters, dictionaries and external citations. |
| `Is_Draft` | boolean | No | `True` if this is a draft statement. |
| `Is_Withdrawn` | boolean | No | `True` if the statement has been withdrawn. |
| `Source_URL` | string | No | Full document URL. |
| `Unmatched_Content` | string | Yes | Fallback capture: any article text not claimed by the structured fields (new/changed page formats), ` \| `-joined. Usually empty. |

---

### 8. Legislative Instruments (`legislative_instruments`)

Legislative instruments, determinations, and notices made by the Commissioner under tax and related legislation. Registered on the Federal Register of Legislation (FRLI). Includes current instruments, repealed instruments, and drafts for comment.

| Column | Type | Nullable | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `Instrument_Reference` | string | No | Primary key, e.g. `LI 2024/19`, `ABRS 2021/1`. Parsed from the document H1. |
| `Title` | string | Yes | The instrument's formal name as stated in its "Name" section (e.g. `Income Tax Assessment (Effective Life of Depreciating Assets) Amendment Determination 2024`). Blank for old unstructured documents (e.g. Payment Summary Notices). |
| `Enabling_Act` | string | Yes | The empowering legislation, e.g. `Income Tax Assessment Act 1997`. |
| `Document_Type` | string | No | `Legislative Instrument`, `Determination`, `Data Standard`, `Framework`, or similar as stated in the document body; inferred from heading pattern when not explicit. |
| `Topic_Category` | string | Yes | Folder breadcrumb from the ATO tree, e.g. `Current > Income tax > Deductions > Motor vehicle expenses`. |
| `Date_of_Issue` | string | Yes | Date signed by the Commissioner, e.g. `6 June 2024`. Blank for some older instruments. |
| `Signatory` | string | Yes | Name and title of the signatory, e.g. `Ben Kelly Deputy Commissioner of Taxation`. |
| `Registration_Number` | string | Yes | FRLI registration number, e.g. `F2024L00712`. Blank for drafts and some repealed documents. |
| `Registration_Date` | string | Yes | Date registered on the FRLI, e.g. `10 June 2024`. Blank for drafts and some repealed documents. |
| `Body` | string | Yes | All numbered sections concatenated: `1 Name: [text] \| 2 Commencement: [text] \| …`. Falls back to all paragraph text (` \| `-delimited) for unstructured documents with no numbered sections. |
| `Related_Explanatory_Statements` | string | Yes | Pipe-separated references to associated explanatory statements or other related documents. |
| `Is_Draft` | boolean | No | `True` for documents under the "Drafts for comment" folder. |
| `Is_Repealed` | boolean | No | `True` for documents under the "Repealed or archived" folder. |
| `Repeal_Replacement_Note` | string | Yes | Repeal/replacement relationship sentence(s), e.g. `This legislative instrument repeals STP 2018/2 …` — the what/by-what the `Is_Repealed` boolean omits. |
| `Source_URL` | string | No | Full document URL. Resume key. |
| `Unmatched_Content` | string | Yes | Fallback capture: any article text not claimed by the structured fields (new/changed page formats), ` \| `-joined. Usually empty. |

---

### 9. Principal Legislation (`frl_principal_legislation`)

Current in-force text of **every section of the 22 principal Acts the ATO administers** — ITAA 1997 & 1936, the GST/LCT/WET Acts, FBTAA, the Taxation Administration Act, the superannuation Acts, the Fuel Tax Act, PRRTAA, the Tax Agent Services Act and more. Sourced from the **Federal Register of Legislation** (legislation.gov.au), Crown copyright, reused under **CC BY 4.0**. One row per provision.

| Column | Type | Nullable | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `Act_Short_Name` | string | No | Short code, e.g. `ITAA1997`, `FBTAA`, `GST`. |
| `Act_Title` | string | No | Full Act title, e.g. `Income Tax Assessment Act 1997`. |
| `Act_Year` | int | No | Year of the Act. |
| `Act_FRL_Id` | string | No | FRL series id, e.g. `C2004A05138`. |
| `Compilation_PiT` | string | No | Compilation point-in-time; `latest` for the current compilation. |
| `Provision` | string | No | Section label, e.g. `s 6-5`, `s 136`. |
| `Provision_Key` | string | No | Normalised join key to the history datasets (`s 6-5`→`s6-5`). |
| `Heading` | string | Yes | Section heading, e.g. `Income according to ordinary concepts (ordinary income)`. |
| `Text` | string | Yes | Full operative text (subsections/notes/tables concatenated). `*` marks defined terms (FRL convention). Genuinely empty for reserved/"Map of…" navigational sections. |
| `Source_URL` | string | No | `https://www.legislation.gov.au/{Act_FRL_Id}/latest/text#{provision}`. |

### 10. Legislation Amendment History (`frl_legislation_history`)

One row per **amendment event**: which provision changed, the action taken, the amending Act, and when it commenced. Reconstructed from FRL compilation **endnotes** (Crown copyright, CC BY 4.0)

| Column | Type | Nullable | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `Act_Short_Name` / `Act_Title` / `Act_Year` / `Act_FRL_Id` | — | No | Identify the principal Act. |
| `Provision` | string | No | Provision affected, e.g. `s 5B`. |
| `Provision_Key` | string | No | Normalised key; joins to the principal dataset. |
| `Action_Code` | string | Yes | Raw code: `am` amended, `ad` added/inserted, `rep` repealed, `rs` repealed & substituted. |
| `Action` | string | No | Expanded verb, e.g. `Amended`, `Inserted`, `Repealed`. |
| `Amending_Act_Number` | int | No | Number of the amending Act. |
| `Amending_Act_Year` | int | No | Year of the amending Act. |
| `Amending_Act_FRL_Id` | string | Yes | FRL id of the amending Act, e.g. `C2013A00124`. |
| `Amending_Item` | string | Yes | Schedule item that made the change, e.g. `Sch 11 item 10` (best-effort). |
| `Commencement` | string | Yes | Commencement detail, e.g. `Sch 11 (items 10-25, 27): 30 June 2013`. |
| `Application_Saving_Transitional` | string | Yes | Application/saving/transitional text where present. |
| `History_Note` | string | No | Reconstructed note, e.g. `Amended by No 124 of 2013, effective 30 June 2013`. |
| `Source_URL` | string | No | Stable per-event URL (resume key). |

### 11. Legislation + History Notes (`frl_legislation_with_history`)

**The flagship FRL dataset.** A left-join of #9 and #10 on `(Act, Provision_Key)` — **one row per current section, carrying its full text AND its complete chronological amendment history.** This rebuilds the ATO Legal Database's "see history notes" view from freely-licensed FRL data.

| Column | Type | Nullable | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `Act_Short_Name` / `Act_Title` / `Act_Year` / `Act_FRL_Id` | — | No | Identify the principal Act. |
| `Provision` / `Provision_Key` / `Heading` / `Text` | — | — | The current section text (as in #9). |
| `Amendment_Count` | int | No | Number of amendment events (0 = never amended). |
| `First_Amended` | string | Yes | Earliest amending Act, e.g. `No 139 of 1987`. |
| `Last_Amended` | string | Yes | Most recent amending Act. |
| `Amending_Acts` | string | Yes | Distinct amending Acts in order, ` \| `-separated. |
| `History_Notes` | string | Yes | Chronological reconstructed notes: `Amended by No 139 of 1987, effective 18 Dec 1987 \| Amended by No 145 of 1995, …`. |
| `Source_URL` | string | No | The provision's `/latest/text#{provision}` URL. |


---

## Use Cases

- **Fine-tuning tax LLMs** — 60,000+ structured Australian tax law documents with rich reasoning fields (`Reasons_for_Decision`, `ATO_View_of_Decision`) make ready-made supervised fine-tuning examples for legal and tax domain LLMs; ideal training data for ITAA 1997 and GST Act specialists
- **Legal RAG pipelines** — each row is a self-contained retrieval unit; chunk on `Ruling`, `Reasons_for_Decision`, or `Compliance_Approach` for high-precision retrieval over Australian tax law; compatible with any vector store or RAG framework
- **Tax research automation** — query and filter across all ATO document types by `Document_Type_Code`, `Is_Withdrawn`, and `Date_of_Issue` to track policy evolution or surface current binding obligations automatically
- **Legal NLP** — classification, summarisation, and named-entity recognition on Australian tax law; well-suited to legal-NLP, domain-specific NLP research, and text-retrieval benchmarking
- **Legislative graph construction** — explode `Legislative_References` to build provision co-citation networks across ITAA 1997, ITAA 1936, GST Act, and more
- **Compliance tooling** — filter on `Document_Type_Code` + `Is_Withdrawn == False` to surface current binding obligations; combine with `ATO_View_of_Decision` in DIS records to identify contested positions
- **Temporal legislation models** — train/evaluate models on dated amendment events (`Commencement`, `Amending_Act_Year`) for legislative change prediction, version diffing, or "law as at date X" retrieval
- **Citation with provenance** — pair `Source_URL` + `History_Notes` so generated tax answers cite the current provision *and* its amendment lineage and commencement date

---

## Limitations

- **Currency** — the ATO Legal Database is checked for new documents every weekday at 11 am AEST; datasets are updated automatically when new documents are detected. ATO documents may still be updated, withdrawn, or replaced between checks. Always verify against the [ATO Legal Database](https://www.ato.gov.au/law/) for official or time-sensitive purposes.
- **Coverage gaps** — Edited Private Advice coverage begins in 2011; earlier private advice is not available on the ATO Legal Database. GST Industry Issues (GII) documents are excluded — they lack standard article structure and do not map cleanly to the schema.
- **Parsing fidelity** — content is extracted from HTML; some older documents (pre-2010) use non-standard markup that may produce blank or truncated fields. Complex tables, diagrams, and attached PDF appendices are not captured.
- **Field sparsity** — many optional fields (e.g. `Date_of_Withdrawal`, `Date_Scheme_Commenced`) are blank for the majority of records, reflecting source documents that simply do not include those details.
- **Boolean encoding** — `Is_Archived`, `Is_Withdrawn`, `Is_Draft`, and similar flags are stored as the strings `"True"` / `"False"` in both CSV and NDJSON for round-trip parity; cast explicitly if your pipeline expects native booleans.
- **Australian jurisdiction only** — all documents are issued by the Australian Taxation Office and relate exclusively to Australian tax law (ITAA 1997, ITAA 1936, GST Act, and related legislation). This dataset is not suitable as a general-purpose legal corpus for other jurisdictions.
- **Not legal advice** — this dataset reproduces publicly available ATO materials for informational and research purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional legal or tax advice.

---

## Support the Project

This dataset is free. If it saves you time on data engineering, a coffee is appreciated:

**[☕ Buy Me a Coffee](https://buymeacoffee.com/simplelex)**

---

## Source & Licensing

This dataset draws on **two official Commonwealth sources**, both © Commonwealth of Australia:

- **ATO Legal Database** ([ato.gov.au](https://www.ato.gov.au/single-page-applications/legaldatabase#Law)) — the rulings, advice, determinations, alerts, DIS, PS LA and legislative-instrument datasets. Made available under [Creative Commons Attribution 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
- **Federal Register of Legislation** ([legislation.gov.au](https://www.legislation.gov.au)) — the principal-legislation, amendment-history and history-notes datasets (`frl_*`). Made available under [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The history notes are **reconstructed in our own wording from the FRL's Crown-copyright compilation endnotes**.

Both source licences permit commercial use with attribution. This structured compilation is published by [SimpleLex](https://huggingface.co/simplelex) under the same Creative Commons terms.

---

## Citation

```bibtex
@dataset{simplelex_ato_rulings_2026,
  author    = {SimpleLex},
  title     = {ATO Tax Legal Rulings — Structured AI Dataset},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {Hugging Face},
  url       = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/simplelex/ATO-Australian-Tax-Law-Dataset}
}
```

---

## Terms of Service

**Last updated:** June 2026

### What this product is

The Aussie Tax Legal Database is a structured dataset of publicly available legal documents
published by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) at ato.gov.au. Documents include Edited
Private Advice, Public Rulings, Determinations, ATO Interpretive Decisions, Practical
Compliance Guidelines, Taxpayer Alerts, Decision Impact Statements, and Law Administration
Practice Statements. It also includes the principal Acts the ATO administers, with reconstructed
amendment-history notes, sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au).
All datasets are compiled into machine-readable CSV and NDJSON format.

### Permitted use

You may use this dataset for any lawful purpose, including research, analysis, building
applications, and commercial projects. You do not need to ask permission. Attribution is
appreciated but not required for the compilation itself.

### Source material and copyright

The underlying ATO documents are published under the
[Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en).
The legislation datasets (`frl_*`) derive from the Federal Register of Legislation under the
[Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); the
amendment-history notes are reconstructed from the FRL's Crown-copyright compilation endnotes. The
Commonwealth retains copyright in the original materials. This dataset is a structured compilation
and does not claim copyright in the original source material.

### Not legal or tax advice

Nothing in this dataset constitutes legal or tax advice. Documents are reproductions of publicly
available ATO materials provided for informational purposes only. Always consult a registered tax
agent or legal professional for advice about your specific situation.

### Accuracy and currency

We make no warranties about the completeness, accuracy, or currency of the data. ATO documents
may be updated, withdrawn, or replaced after the dataset was last scraped. Always verify against
the [ATO Legal Database](https://www.ato.gov.au/law/) for official or time-sensitive purposes.

### No liability

To the maximum extent permitted by Australian law, simplelex accepts no liability for any direct,
indirect, or consequential loss arising from use of or reliance on this dataset.

### Changes

We may update these terms at any time. Continued use of the dataset following an update
constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.