The ATO has reminded Australians who receive any foreign income from investments, family members or working overseas to make sure they have reported it this tax time.

New international data-sharing agreements allow the ATO to track money across borders and identify people who aren’t meeting their obligations. Under the new Common Reporting Standard (CRS), the ATO has shared data on financial account information with over 65 tax jurisdictions across the globe. This includes information on account holders, balances, interest and dividend payments, proceeds from the sale of assets, and other income.

From 1 October 2019, if an SMSF is more than two weeks overdue on any annual return lodgement due date and hasn’t requested a lodgement deferral, the ATO will change their status on Super Fund Lookup to ‘Regulation details removed’.

Having a status of ‘Regulation details removed’ means APRA funds won’t roll over any member benefits to the SMSF and employers won’t make any super guarantee (SG) contribution payments for members of the SMSF.

In June 2019, the ATO received 6,444 reports of tax-time scams impersonating the ATO. Emails with links to fake myGov login pages were the most widespread email scam.

The myGov system will never send texts, emails or attachments with links or web addresses that ask for your login or personal details. Never click on links in emails or text messages claiming to be from myGov.

Always log into your official myGov account to lodge your return and check if you owe a debt or are due a refund. You can do this by typing https://my.gov.au/ into your internet browser’s address bar.

Unfortunately, ATO and other scams continue well beyond the 30 October deadline for tax returns, as scammers know many people are waiting for a refund or information about debts. It’s important to watch out for scams throughout the year.

The ATO has said it “recognises the important role businesses play in the Australian economy [but] when an entity avoids paying its tax debts it can have a significant impact on other businesses, employees, contractors and the wider community.

Proposed legislation will allow the ATO to disclose information about business tax debts when certain conditions are met. A business would need to have debts of at least $100,000 overdue by more than 90 days and have not effectively engaged with the ATO to manage that debt.

From 1 July 2018, employers with more than 20 employees have been required to provide real-time reports to the ATO of salary and wage payments, super guarantee contributions, ordinary time earnings of employees and PAYG withholding amounts.
From 1 July 2019, this Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting system has extended to all employers.

The ATO is now writing to small employers who haven’t yet started reporting or applied for a deferral, to remind them of their STP obligations.

There will be no penalties for mistakes, or missed or late reports, for the first year, and employers experiencing hardship or who are in areas with intermittent or no internet connection will be able to access exemptions.

With the soon to be enacted Director Penalty Regime to be extended to GST, directors need to take steps to manage the risks of being a director.

Directors face a myriad of potential risks including:

Breach of directors’ duties
Insolvent trading
Director Penalty Notices for unpaid PAYG(W), Superannuation Guarantee Contributions and soon to be enacted GST liabilities
Personal guarantees being called in
Breach of duties when acting as a director of a trustee company
Breach of other laws (workplace health & safety, environmental, competition and consumer etc.)

Asset Protection for Directors

There are a number of steps that can be taken to mitigate these risks, including:

Directors’ Insurance and Indemnities
Careful consideration of who is a director of the company (e.g. both husband and wife should not necessarily both be directors
Consideration of personal assets of directors
Various strategies to protect personal assets

Other Obligations

Directors owe a duty to the company, creditors, employees and shareholders.

It is ultimately the director’s responsibility to act in good faith and be aware of their obligations.

Guidance and advice from a good accountant and lawyer is also important.