Protecting business doing the right thing Visiting businesses - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Visiting businesses around Australia

Protecting business doing the right thing

• why we are visiting small businesses
• previous visits - what we found
• the visit process - what to expect

Welcome and overview

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• almost 90% of income tax from small businesses is

paid voluntarily - around $76 billion

• small business income tax gap is estimated to be 12.5% or $11.1 billion
• ver $7 billion is attributed to black economy behaviour
• black economy costs Australia as much as $50 billion,

approximately 3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ato.gov.au/smallbiztaxgap

Tax gap and the black economy

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• Black Economy Taskforce - 80 recommendations
• changes to policy and law settings to make it easier to comply

and hard not to

• increased visibility of enforcement activities

ato.gov.au/smallbiztaxgap

Tax gap and the black economy

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• unreported sales and income
• ver-claiming expenses
• utstanding lodgments
• businesses operating outside the tax system
• support for small business
• addressing those deliberately doing the wrong thing

Why are we visiting?

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• data matching
• risk modelling
• small business benchmarks
• reports from the community

How do we identify incorrect business practices?

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Practices that cause us concern no cash register, till or point of sale (POS) system; putting money in your pocket or a shoebox misrepresenting or underreporting income (e.g. by using an electronic sales suppression tool) paying for private expenses not keeping records not having a business bank account not paying family and friends who help out not lodging activity statements or returns

What we found in other visits

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Getting it right record all sales, income and expenses keep cash in a safe place consider electronic record keeping and payment systems Save time and money, and reduce the chance of mistakes and theft. ato.gov.au/electronicrecordkeeping ato.gov.au/electronicpayments

What we found in other visits

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• ATO field staff carry identification
• they may give you an ATO business card or have an ATO name badge
• if you’re unsure, call the ATO switchboard on 13 28 69

How to identify ATO officers

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• record keeping and payment systems
• employer obligations
• utstanding lodgments
• payment options for outstanding amounts
• providing advice and answering questions

What to expect when we visit

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Depending on what we find during the visit, we may contact you at a later stage to follow up. We may contact you about:

• record keeping and employer workshops
• ensuring your registrations are correct
• correcting mistakes
• further investigation or an audit

What will happen after we visit

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Key messages

Superannuation

• employers need to pay superannuation to eligible employees
• not sure if your worker is an employee?

Try the ‘Employee/Contractor decision tool’

• super is not another tax, and it is not government revenue
• super provides income for workers when they retire

ato.gov.au/employers ato.gov.au/superquickcheck

Key things for employers

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Single Touch Payroll (STP)

• Start reporting now
• Request a deferral if more time is needed
• micro employers (1 - 4 employees)
• even more flexible options: list of free or low cost solutions

(less than $10 a month) available at ato.gov.au/STPsolutions

• Consider applying for a quarterly reporting concession

ato.gov.au/STP

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Key things for employers cont…

Single Touch Payroll – quarterly reporting

• Employers who rely heavily on their tax agent
• Closely held payees
• Seasonal and intermittent employees
• Not for profit, Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry Industry

ato.gov.au/STP

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Key things for employers cont…

Claiming deductions for payments

• from 1 July 2019, you can only claim deductions

for payments you make to your employees if you:

• withhold pay as you go (PAYG) withholding before you make the

payment

• report the amount to us
• this also applies to contractors who haven’t provided you with their ABN
• if needed, make a voluntary disclosure or correct your mistake as soon

as possible ato.gov.au/PAYGWdeductions

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Key things for employers cont…

• building
• construction
• cleaning services
• courier services
• road freight, information technology, security, surveillance and

investigation services

Are you in any of these industries

• r pay contractors to provide any of these services?

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Taxable Payments Reporting System (TPRS) Requires businesses in relevant industries to report the payments they make to contractors using the Taxable payments annual report (TPAR).

• building and construction

You need to lodge your TPAR by 28 August every year.

• cleaning and courier services

Your first TPAR is due by 28 August 2019.

• road freight, IT, security, surveillance and investigation services

Your first TPAR is due by 28 August 2020.

• you don’t need to include payments you make to employees in your

TPAR ato.gov.au/TPAR

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Are you in any of these industries

• r pay contractors to provide any of these services?

• forgot to include some income?
• claimed deductions you weren’t entitled to?
• didn’t account for stock used for personal purposes?

You can easily fix a mistake yourself, or ask your tax professional for help. ato.gov.au/voluntarydisclosure ato.gov.au/stockforpersonaluse

Correct a mistake

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• everyone needs to pay their correct amount of tax
• report online
• confidential
• give us as much detail as you can
• Black Economy hotline: 1800 060 062

ato.gov.au/tipoff

Make a tip-off

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Support for small business

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Going online Small business newsroom Afterhours call back service ATO App ato.gov.au & atoTV Small Business Assist Small business workshops Small business superannuation clearing house

ato.gov.au/SBsupport

Workshops in your area

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ato.gov.au/SBsupport Workshops and webinars

• Insert: date - Topic
• Insert: date - Topic
• Insert: date - Topic

Tax clinic (delete if there are no clinics within the area or nearby)

• insert

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For further advice, contact a registered tax professional www.tpb.gov.au

Questions or comments?

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• Sign up for news

ato.gov.au/sbnews

• Facebook

facebook.com/ato.gov.au

• Twitter

twitter.com/ato_gov_au

• LinkedIn

linkedin.com/company/7165

• atoTV

tv.ato.gov.au

Keep up to date

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