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9.11. Government Ledgers are the main source of data on Australian Government current transfers. Data from the Ledgers measure most receipts from withholding taxes (supplemented by data from the Australian Taxation Office), adjusted where necessary for balance of payments purposes, and foreign aid payments. (From time to time withholding taxes are actually paid by residents to the Australian Tax Office; because they are 'resident to resident' transactions they are excluded.) A Department of Treasury advice provides data on Australia’s contributions to international development institutions. These data are supplemented by Budget Papers which provide data on Government veterans’ and social security pensions paid to former Australian residents now living abroad.

9.12. For other current transfers, data on non-life insurance transfers come from the Insurance Model. The residual item other private transfers includes withholding tax payments abroad and other private transfers. The former are estimated from Survey of International Investment data. Other private transfers are estimated from the Survey of Foreign Unrequited Transfers (SOFUT). The Department of Veterans Affairs reports pensions paid to former New Zealand residents now living in Australia. Data sources and methods used to compile the standard components of current transfers are described in more detail in table 9.3.

	9.3 SUMMARY OF SOURCES AND METHODS - CURRENT TRANSFERS
	Component		Source of data		Method of estimation
	General government
		Credits	Commonwealth Government Transactions (Ledgers) Withholding Tax (Australian Taxation Office (ATO))		Ledgers provide data on dividend, interest and royalty withholding tax receipts (adjusted for balance of payments purposes), while the ATO provides data on royalty, insurance and other withholding taxes received from non-residents.
		Debits	Commonwealth Government Transactions (Ledgers) Veterans Affairs and Social Security pensions (Commonwealth Government Budget Papers) Contributions to International Development Finance Institutions (IDFIs) (Department of Treasury)		Ledgers provide data on Australian foreign aid abroad, while Budget Papers provide data on pensions paid to former Australian residents. Contributions to IDFIs are provided by the Treasury.
	Other sectors
		Non-life insurance transfers	Insurance model		See box 7.5 for explanation of concepts, data sources and methods.
		Other current transfers	Survey of International Investment (SII) Veterans’ pensions paid to Australian residents (Department of Veterans Affairs) Survey of Foreign Unrequited Transfers		Until 1995-96, SII provided some data on withholding tax on dividends and interest payable to non-residents, which were used as the basis for estimating withholding tax payments abroad. For subsequent periods these data are estimated. The Department of Veterans Affairs provides data on veterans’ pensions paid by the New Zealand Government to former New Zealand residents now resident in Australia. Otherwise, the bulk of this component is estimated using the Survey of Foreign Unrequited Transfers.