Are you new to business or thinking of  starting a business?

You’re invited to the following free ATO presented sessions at Springfield Lakes:

• Tax Essentials for small business 2nd March 2016
• Small business record keeping workshop 9th March 2016

These short sessions will be held in March at the Spring Lake Hotel, 1/1 Springfield Lakes Boulevard, Springfield Lakes.

Go to the event registration page for each session to view a session outline and register.

Regards,
 
Small Business Engagement and Support Team
Australian Taxation Office

​For more information click here

The ATO has given notice that it will acquire details of individuals in receipt of Family Tax Benefit Part B, paid parental leave, carer allowance and Medicare entitlement statements from the Department of Human Services (Centrelink and Medicare) for the 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 financial years.

The ATO has also given notice that it will acquire details of insurance policies for certain classes of assets, including marine vessels, enthusiast motor vehicles, thoroughbred horses, fine art and aircraft where the value exceeds nominated thresholds for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 financial years.

For further details please click here.

The Registrar of the Australian Business Register (ABR) will begin cancelling the ABNs of approximately 220,000 trusts, where there is evidence they are no longer carrying on an enterprise.

Trust ABNs will be cancelled in February, where information available indicates that for the last two years the trust has not lodged business activity statements and/or trust income tax returns. Exclusions to these ABN cancellations apply to trusts that are registered with Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission or are a non-reporting member of a GST or income tax group.

You or your accountant will receive a letter if your ABN has been cancelled. The letter will include the reason for the cancellation, and a phone number to ring to get the ABN reinstated immediately if you don't agree with the decision.

If your ABN is cancelled and neither you nor your accountant receives a letter, it could mean your contact details are not up to date on their ABN record.

The recent case of Commissioner of Taxation v Ryan ( 2015) FCA 1037 serves as a timely reminder to SMSF trustees about the rules around lending.
 
In this case the Federal Court imposed fines of $20 000 for each SMSF trustee for breaches of the superannuation law involving loans to themselves as fund members. The husband and wife respondents were the trustees/ members of a family SMSF. Over a 3 year period from June 2009 to June 2012, the SMSF made 68 loans to the couple totaling just over $200 000. These loans were unsecured , no interest was charged, and no repayment terms were in place. All up, only just over $28 000 was repaid. The borrowed  money was used by  the couple to service a line of credit in relation to their unsuccessful investment in a dry-cleaning business.
 
In August 2012, the SMSF's auditor lodged auditor contravention reports for the relevant years. The ATO applied to the Federal Court to impose civil penalties for breaches of:

•  The sole purpose test
• Financial assistance to members
• The in-house asset rules, and
• The arm's length dealing requirements

 
While a maximum civil penalty up to 2000 penalty units could apply for each contravention under the Superannuation Industry Supervision Act (i.e. $220 000 at the relevant time), the court imposed a penalty of $20 000 for each trustee of the SMSF to be paid over a 3 year period with monthly repayments of $556. The court agreed that the contraventions were "serious" as they involved deliberate breaches over a 3 year period and had reduced the assets of the fund to only $6000.

​For further details click here.

For our clients, if you lodge electronically, your December 2015 quarterly BAS is due for lodgment and payment by 28 February 2016. If you lodge monthly the January 2016 activity statement is due for lodgment and payment by 21 February 2016.

If you have issues keeping up with your BAS requirements you should consider moving to #Xero - this accounting software works in real time and assists you by keeping your business on track with the ATO and SGC requirements. Plus as your accountant we can also monitor your books and provide you instant assistance when you have any concerns.

Did you know you can now enrol your voiceprint and use your voice to verify your identity using the ATO app? So logging in to manage your BAS and PAYG instalments through our Online services for individuals and sole traders is now faster and easier than ever before.

Using your voiceprint saves you time, with:

• a quick and easy spoken phrase to log in
• no need to type your myGov login details into the app
• no more security questions when you phone us.

Enrolling your voiceprint is easy. Just follow these simple steps.

1. Download the latest version of the ATO app
2. Select ‘Individuals’
3. Go to Online services
4. Log into your myGov account
5. Follow the prompts.

The next time you log into our Online services for individuals and sole traders via the app or phone us, you simply speak a phrase to verify your identity using your voice.

Voice authentication is a secure way to protect your information. We analyse up to 120 characteristics such as pitch and tone when we verify a voiceprint – so it works even if you have a cold.

Download the ATO app and enrol your voiceprint today.

Get it done:
The ATO app is available from Google Play, the Windows Phone Store or the Apple App Store.
​
Find out more:
Download the ATO app
Sole trader business structure.

​For further details please click here.