Form · Taxation
Private ruling application (ATO approved form): completion guide
Guide to completing the ATO's private ruling application (NAT 74957) or an equivalent letter: questions, scheme facts, assumptions, arguments, draft ruling and declarations, with the traps that leave a ruling unreliable.
- Kind
- Form. A form to complete, or a guide to completing an official one.
- Where it applies
- Australia
- AI use
- Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked against the cited sources on 17 October 2026.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Link to the official form. Licence: ATO copyright notice: free to copy, adapt and distribute with no implied ATO endorsement. Approved form: link only; always use the current version from ato.gov.au.
Where this comes from
The official form is published by ato.gov.au; this page is a completion guide. Last checked on 2026-10-17.
When to use it
Use when a client needs binding certainty from the Commissioner on how a provision applies to a specific, reasonably certain scheme. Do not use it for hypothetical arrangements, for a matter the ATO is already considering for that client, or where an assessment for the period has already issued and an objection is the better route.
How AI may be used
AI may draft the scheme description and a draft ruling from the transaction documents under close supervision. The ruling binds only on the facts described, so every fact is verified by the adviser and the current approved form is used.
AI may
- Draft the scheme description from the transaction documents, citing the source document for each fact
- Suggest question wording tied to the provisions the lawyer has selected
- Check the draft application against the form's required parts and list gaps
- Prepare a first draft of the draft ruling for the lawyer to revise
AI must not
- Must not add, infer or smooth over facts: the ruling only protects the scheme as described
- Must not choose the provisions or frame the questions without the lawyer's direction
- Must not process documents containing tax file numbers or confidential deal terms in a tool not approved for client data
The lawyer checks
- Every fact in the scheme description traced to a document or written client instruction
- Each question names the correct provision, entity and income years
- The client's written declaration that the information is true and correct is on file before lodgment
- The current approved form, or a letter with everything the form asks for, is used
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Official form
Open the official form. Always use the current version from the issuer. Licence: ATO copyright notice: free to copy, adapt and distribute with no implied ATO endorsement. Approved form: link only; always use the current version from ato.gov.au..
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
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