Every formula function in ato is verifiable with pen and
paper. This vignette walks through the three arithmetic methods and
confirms each against a hand calculation. A referee checking a published
result against the package can use this page as the reference
implementation.
ato_deflate()Proportional (Laspeyres-style) adjustment:
\[ \mathrm{real}_t \;=\; \mathrm{nominal}_t \times \frac{CPI_{\text{base}}}{CPI_t} \]
Source: Diewert (1998), ; ABS cat. 6461.0, Concepts, Sources and Methods.
Take AUD 100 in 2012-13 nominal and deflate to 2022-23 real AUD.
From ato_crosswalk("cpi"):
cpi <- ato_crosswalk("cpi")
cpi[cpi$financial_year %in% c("2012-13", "2022-23"), ]
#> financial_year cpi_all_groups_australia base_2011_12
#> 19 2012-13 101.7 1.025
#> 29 2022-23 132.9 1.339Reading off the table: - \(CPI_{2012\text{-}13} = 101.7\) - \(CPI_{2022\text{-}23} = 132.9\)
Hand calculation:
\[ 100 \times \frac{132.9}{101.7} \;=\; 100 \times 1.30678 \;=\; 130.68 \]
Package output:
The package returns exactly 130.6785 (to four decimals), which matches the hand calculation to within rounding.
ato_reconcile()\[ \Delta \;=\; V - R, \qquad \pi \;=\; \frac{V - R}{R} \]
where \(V\) is the value from Taxation Statistics and \(R\) is the Final Budget Outcome reference total for the same year and measure.
From ato_crosswalk("budget"):
bud <- ato_crosswalk("budget")
bud[bud$financial_year == "2022-23" &
bud$measure == "individuals_income_tax_net", ]
#> financial_year measure value_aud_billion
#> 3 2022-23 individuals_income_tax_net 316.4
#> source
#> 3 Final Budget Outcome 2022-23 Table 4.2
#> definition
#> 3 Gross income tax on individuals less refunds (cash basis, Commonwealth receipts)
#> note
#> 3 <NA>Reference: \(R = 316.4 \times 10^9\) AUD.
Suppose we fetch the ATO 2022-23 Individuals snapshot and sum the
tax_payable column. Say our sum is \(V = 310.0 \times 10^9\) (hypothetical; real
sums typically fall 1 to 3 per cent below the cash-basis FBO).
Hand:
\[ \Delta = 310.0 - 316.4 = -6.4 \text{ (AUD billion)} \]
\[ \pi = \frac{-6.4}{316.4} = -0.02023 = -2.02\% \]
Package output:
res <- ato_reconcile(310.0e9, "2022-23", "individuals_income_tax_net")
res[, c("diff_aud", "pct_diff")]
#> diff_aud pct_diff
#> 1 -6.4e+09 -0.02022756Agrees with hand calculation.
The package warns when abs(pct_diff) > 0.05.
Test:
res <- tryCatch(
ato_reconcile(400e9, "2022-23", "individuals_income_tax_net"),
warning = function(w) {
message("Captured warning: ", conditionMessage(w))
NULL
}
)
#> Captured warning: Reconciliation diff 26.4% for "individuals_income_tax_net" ("2022-23").
#> ℹ ATO data: "400,000,000,000".
#> ℹ Reference: "316,400,000,000".
#> ℹ Expected 1-3% accrual-vs-cash gap; investigate larger.At \(V = 400 \text{ AUD billion}\), the diff is +83.6 billion and \(\pi = 26.4\%\) which exceeds the 5% threshold, so the warning fires.
ato_per_capita()\[ \mathrm{per\_capita}_t \;=\; \frac{x_t}{\mathrm{ERP}_t} \]
where \(\mathrm{ERP}_t\) is the ABS Estimated Resident Population at 30 June of the financial year end (cat. 3101.0).
From ato_crosswalk("erp"):
erp <- ato_crosswalk("erp")
erp[erp$financial_year == "2022-23", ]
#> financial_year erp_june_australia_thousands note
#> 29 2022-23 26638 <NA>ERP 2022-23 = 26,638 thousand = 26,638,000 persons.
Commonwealth individual income tax for 2022-23 = AUD 316.4 billion
(from ato_reconcile() reference).
Hand:
\[ \frac{316.4 \times 10^9}{26.638 \times 10^6} \;=\; 11{,}878 \text{ AUD per person} \]
Package output:
Agrees.
ato_sha256()SHA-256 as defined in NIST FIPS 180-4. For the empty string, the published digest is:
e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855
| Function | Formula | Reference | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
ato_deflate |
Laspeyres ratio | Diewert 1998 + ABS 6461.0 | Verified |
ato_reconcile |
(V - R) / R | FBO + ATO tax gap methodology | Verified |
ato_per_capita |
x / ERP | ABS 3101.0 | Verified |
ato_sha256 |
NIST FIPS 180-4 | digest + openssl |
Verified |
A reviewer can reproduce each worked example on paper and confirm the package output. Any disagreement is a bug in the package; please file an issue.