This week we want to bring a very serious issue to your attention. There are scammers out there calling people under the guise of being employees from the Australian Tax Office (ATO) and demanding money from innocent tax payers in an intimidating & threatening manner.
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Have you been scammed by the ATO? Read More »
With all of the web content being thrown at us daily via email and social media, it’s hard to know what’s worth reading and what’s just rubbish! If you’re a busy business owner like me, you can’t read everything, there’s just not enough time in the day. However, as a business owner, you also know that there is information out there that you should be across, particularly in relation to taxation, GST and employing. Most of this information can be found on the Australian Taxation Office website, but again, there is a mountain of data to read there, so where do you start? To save you time, I have compiled a list of ATO links I believe will be the most useful for business owners. Take a read through and bookmark the links of interest to you.
1. ATO YouTube channel – ato.gov.au
The ATO has it’s own YouTube channel which contains several videos about taxation, GST, running your business, BAS and lots more!
2. Small business newsroom | Small Business Newsroom
There are 2 newsletters to which you can subscribe that regularly provide information about employment issues, GST, Superannation, lodging and paying tax, fringe benefits tax and other general tax advice. The “Small Business Newsroom” is specifically for small business owners while the “Business Bulletins” is directed at medium to large businesses.
3. Small business support | After hours web chat | Contact ATO by phone
Need to discuss a taxation issue with the ATO but you’re just too busy during the day? No matter, you can now book an after hours call via the above link. Once booked, a consultant will call you back at the time you specified – a great service! For those who prefer not to talk via telephone, there is also a web chat service. I have also provided the link to telephone numbers you can call during the day if the other 2 options don’t suit you.
4. Order forms and other documents
From time to time, you may need quick access to taxation booklets, forms or other information. One of the best ways to obtain this information is by ordering it online from the ATO. The information will be sent you either via post or email depending on the product.
The ATO has provided the ability for business owners to connect with the ATO electronically for several years now. Business owners can log into their business portal and lodge their own BAS and other forms and can correspond securely with the ATO as required. I highly recommend that all business owners review their options in this space as the ATO is moving further and further towards online platforms and those who ignore this will get left behind. The link above provides more information about this topic.
This service allows you to call the ATO whenever you like to do any of the following:
7. Search – sort by topic | Small business assist
Need to find some taxation information quickly? These 2 links may help. “Search” is an alphabetical listing of various topics while “Small business assist” is a service where by you type in your question and a range of websites and pages will be provided related to the information you require.
8. Dates for current financial year
Not sure when your BAS is due or when you need to pay your employees’ superannuation? This link will help – it’s a list of current key tax lodgement due dates for this financial year.
9. For Employers!
Here is a group of links for those of you who are employers or who are about to employ staff. They include information on employing for the first time, PAYG withholding (what it is and how it works), a tax withholding calculator, the log-on page to the super clearing house and the super guarantee charge statement and calculator tool (for those who have missed the quarterly super payment due date).
10. How the GST works | Claiming business deductions | Home office expenses calculator | Selling or closing your business
This group of links relate to general taxation information about topics and issues that business owners may find useful, especially the business deductions link.
Having trouble paying tax debt? This link provides information about how to handle this situation.
I hope this list of useful ATO links will prove helpful to you as a business owner. You could bookmark them all or simply bookmark this blog so you can access all links with one click!
As a business owner, do you find yourself using particular ATO web pages all the time? If they aren’t already listed here, please share your links below – they may just help someone else 🙂
Useful ATO web pages all business owners should bookmark Read More »
Recently one of my clients rang me because her business activity debt was very high and she was panicking because she was unable to pay the debt by the due date. I calmly told her to make a payment arrangement with the ATO so she could pay the debt by instalments. My client told me she had never heard of payment arrangements and wasn’t even aware that this payment option existed. I was surprised by this because I thought it was common knowledge. I wondered how many other business owners out there were oblivious to their tax payment options and decided that the best way to educate them would be via a blog, so here goes!
…Got a tax debt? Make a payment arrangement! Read More »
Are you a new employer? Do you need help with getting started? Do you know what your employer obligations involve? Being an employer is a huge responsibility and brings with it added compliance to which you must adhere if you want to get it right. To assist you in this task, we have created the “Employers’ Toolbox”, a simple guide to getting started including all of the resources you will need along the way.
Employers’ Toolbox (free download) Read More »
One of the most useful features found in cloud-based accounting software such as Xero and Saasu is the ability to upload and attach documents to various transactions. This is great because it means that not only are you complying with your record keeping requirements, but you can also verify your purchases with others. By “others” I mean your accountant, bookkeeper and yes, the ATO should they ask for supporting evidence. Most Saasu and Xero users will be aware that they can upload and attach source documents to sales and purchase invoices. What they may not be aware of is that you can also attach documents to journal transactions. Today I will show you how this done in Saasu.
How to make journals in Saasu & Xero more useful Read More »
Do you understand why record-keeping is so important (whether you’re in business or not)? No? Well here is your complete why what and how of record-keeping. Learn why you should do it and exactly which documents you should be keeping in today’s blog! This blog will assist you whether or not you are a business owner.
…Record-keeping – why what and how Read More »
So the BAS lodgement date came and went and you didn’t get around to lodging your BAS – what happens now? The Australian Tax Office (ATO) doesn’t look favorably on this behaviour. If they see fit, you may just find yourself having to pay late lodgement penalties. What are these penalties and how much will you have to pay if charged?
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Didn’t lodge your BAS on time? Here come the late lodgement fines…..maybeRead More »
Didn’t lodge your BAS on time? Here come the late lodgement fines…..maybe Read More »
Are you a new employer? Do you need help with getting started? Do you know what your employer obligations involve? Being an employer is a huge responsibility and brings with it added compliance to which you must adhere if you want to get it right. To assist you in this task, we have created the “Employers’ Toolbox”, a simple guide to getting started including all of the resources you will need along the way.
Employers’ Toolbox (free download) Read More »
It’s a well known fact that almost everyone can prepare and lodge the Business Activity Statement (BAS). Those who charge a fee for this task must become registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) as stipulated by the TASA 2009 legislation. Others, however, who fit certain criteria (see below) don’t have to register but can still prepare and lodge BAS. So we have registered and unregistered persons doing the same job. The question is, should unregistered persons be preparing and lodging BAS in the first place? I don’t think so, and here’s why:
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Any Tom, Dick, and Harry can prepare and lodge the BAS… but should they?Read More »
Any Tom, Dick, and Harry can prepare and lodge the BAS… but should they? Read More »
If you are in the building and construction industry, you are now required to lodge a taxable payments annual report (TPAR) by the 28th of August each year. The TPAR tells the ATO about payments you have made to contractors during the year in your business. Lodging via hard copy and snail mail can be a nuisance particularly if there are many contractors to report about. Information about lodging your TPAR online can be found on this ATO webpage.
Even though the above ATO webpage explains how to lodge the TPAR via the business portal, the instructions still apply to BAS Agents using the BAS Portal to lodge on behalf of clients as the lodging process is the same. In fact, the instructions apply to lodgement of any file via the portals so this video is pretty handy.
For more information about the Taxable Payments, Annual Report read our in-depth blog here.
How to lodge your taxable payments annual report online Read More »