Datasets:

simplelex
/

Aussie-Tax-Legal-Database

 ---
+tags:
+- law
+- tax
+- australia
+- rag
+- nlp
+- legal
+- finance
+- ato
+- ATOLaw
+- taxation
+- rulings
+- advice
+language:
+- en
 license: cc-by-3.0
+pretty_name: ATO Tax Legal Rulings — Structured AI Dataset
+size_categories:
+- 10K<n<100K
 ---
+# Australian Taxation Office Legal Database — Machine-Readable
+**60,000+ ATO rulings, determinations, and private advice. Structured CSV. RAG-ready on day one.**
+The ATO Legal Database spans 15 years of Australian tax law — private advice, interpretative decisions, public rulings, and compliance guidelines. It's all public. It's all messy HTML. Getting it into a format an LLM can actually use takes weeks of data engineering.
+This dataset skips that. Every document is one CSV row. Every logical section is its own column. Source URLs included.
+> If this dataset saves you time, consider supporting the project:
+>
+> **[☕ Buy Me a Coffee](https://buymeacoffee.com/simplelex)**
+---
+## 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)
+- [Use Cases](#use-cases)
+- [Support the Project](#support-the-project)
+- [Source & Licensing](#source--licensing)
+- [Citation](#citation)
+- [Terms of Service](#terms-of-service)
+- [Privacy Policy](#privacy-policy)
+- [Refund Policy](#refund-policy)
+---
+## Dataset Splits
+| Split | Document Type | Est. Documents | Coverage |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| `edited_private_advice` | Edited Private Advice (EPA) — all years in one file | ~50,000 | 2011–present |
+| `ato_interpretative_decisions` | ATO Interpretative Decisions (ATO ID) | ~10,000 | All years |
+| `public_rulings` | Public Rulings & Determinations | ~2,000 | All years |
+| `practical_compliance_guidelines` | Practical Compliance Guidelines (PCG) | ~200 | All years |
+---
+## Quick Start
+```python
+import pandas as pd
+# Load one split
+df = pd.read_csv("edited_private_advice_all.csv")
+# Filter to active (non-archived) documents
+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:
+```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
+### Encoding conventions
+| Convention | Detail |
+|---|---|
+| **Multi-value delimiter** | ` \| ` (space-pipe-space) within a single cell |
+| **Empty values** | Empty string `""` — never `NULL` or `N/A` |
+| **Booleans** | `True` / `False` |
+| **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`. |
+---
+### 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. |
+| `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`. |
+---
+### 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. |
+| `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. |
+| `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. |
+| `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`. |
+---
+### 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` or `Draft PCG`. |
+| `Title` | string | Yes | Full document title. |
+| `Status` | string | Yes | `Current`, `Withdrawn`, `Draft`. |
+| `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. |
+| `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` if the document is a draft. |
+| `Source_URL` | string | No | Full URL, e.g. `https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=PCG/PCG_2020/2`. |
+---
+## Use Cases
+- **RAG pipelines** — each row is a self-contained retrieval unit; chunk on `Ruling`, `Reasons_for_Decision`, or `Compliance_Approach`
+- **Legal NLP** — classification, summarisation, and named-entity recognition on Australian tax law
+- **Legislative graph construction** — explode `Legislative_References` to build provision co-citation networks
+- **Compliance tooling** — filter on `Document_Type_Code` + `Is_Withdrawn == False` to surface current binding obligations
+---
+## 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
+Data sourced from the [ATO Legal Database](https://www.ato.gov.au/single-page-applications/legaldatabase#Law) (© Commonwealth of Australia). ATO public legal documents are made available under the [Creative Commons Attribution 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) licence. This structured dataset is published by [SimpleLex](https://huggingface.co/simplelex) under the same 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/Aussie-Tax-Legal-Database}
+}
+```
+---
+## Terms of Service
+**Last updated:** May 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, and Practical
+Compliance Guidelines, compiled into machine-readable CSV 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 ATO retains copyright in the original documents. 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.