Tag: Australian Taxation Office

Australian Tax Office Set to Target Successful Businesses in an Audit

Blog
With the impact the pandemic has had on businesses locally as well as globally, governments, including the Australian government, have been making concessions to business to help soften the blow. However, as the vaccine rollout continues, governments are now increasingly looking to try and get back to business as normal.…

Lending Recovers As JobKeeper End In Sight

Blog
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) is reporting that almost 85% of loans that were placed in deep freeze during the Covid pandemic have now resumed normal repayment. This is being seen as a positive sign that the economy is recovering. By June 2020, banks had suspended about $264 billion in…

ATO Extends Data Collection to Ensure Compliance in JobKeeper Programme

Blog
The administrative trend toward data collection and analysis continues, as the ATO extends its data-matching programme with the Department of Home Affairs. The 3-year extension will further consolidate their database regarding recent visa grants in the 2020-21 to 2022-23 financial years. Each financial year, an estimated 10 million individual records…

‘Shortcut’ Method Extended For Home Office Tax Deductions

Blog
Australians claiming deductions for home office expenses may continue to use the ‘shortcut’ method until December 31, after the ATO extended the period for making claims. The extension is aimed at providing additional tax relief for people working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic period. The shortcut method covers a…

New Budget Includes Steps to Modernise Australian Tax Collection

Blog
The Australian government has made a series of announcements in an effort to adapt the country’s tax collection system to modern conditions. Among these is the removal of the 47% fringe benefits tax (FBT) for businesses that retrain workers who have been repositioned or made redundant. Other tax concessions will…

Tax Office Examines Those Who Accessed Superannuations

Blog
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is examining over 400 account owners who issued early release claims on their retirement savings. In the investigation, ATO will scrutinise taxpayers and organisations that may have used a system loophole to dodge eligibility compliance, as a way of gaining early access to their superannuations.…

The latest tax audit claim stats that all accountants in Australia will want to know

Blog
Every accountant will know that reviews or audits of your client’s tax returns can sometimes be unavoidable. This is seldom a reflection of the work that is put into preparing the returns and is more often than not due to a specific crackdown by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) or other State government revenue authorities. It could be through a variety of data matching or artificial intelligence sources used to assist in initiating audit…

ATO Warns Employers that it will be on the Lookout for JobKeeper Cheats

Blog
As the first wave of JobKeeper payments are distributed throughout the country, the Australian Taxation Office says it will be keeping a close watch on employers and will expose those who try to defraud the system. The government has allocated $130 billion for JobKeeper payments, which will pay eligible workers…

JobKeeper payment audits and reviews are covered by Audit Shield

Blog
Tax shortcuts for working from home deductions, JobKeeper payments, and more. The Australian government is doing a good job of supporting the country through this unprecedented time of crisis but how will these actions affect audit activity for the rest of 2020? In the short term the Australian Taxation Office…