ATO

There was one stand-out problem that was identified early in relation to the closure of the tax agent portals and its replacement with the Online Services for Agents facility. The problem was the issue of tax practitioners being legally unable to access deceased taxpayers’ information through the new online services even though the taxpayer had been

To make it easier to finalise deceased estates, there have been some improvements in the ATO’s guidance for managing the tax affairs of deceased estates. First of all, there is now a telephone option to notify the ATO that a taxpayer has passed away. You can phone 13 28 61 to give the ATO an “unofficial” notification

The Senate Economics Legislation Committee has tabled its report on Treasury Laws Amendment (Recovering Unpaid Superannuation) Bill 2019 and recommended that it be passed. (Scroll down to take our poll on the SG Amnesty.) The bill, which was re-introduced earlier this year, amends relevant legislation to provide for a one-off amnesty to encourage employers to

The ATO has announced that the date for the shut down of the portals will be 29 November. Specifically at 11.30pm AEDT. The earlier than expected timing is, the ATO says, to clear the decks before implementing its “Activity Statement Financial Processing” project (ASFP), the name it has given to a system enhancement that aims

Draft rules supporting the new currency restriction legislation have been released by Treasury. The legislation bans the use of cash for some transactions of more than $10,000, and has just been passed by the House of Representatives. The Currency (Restrictions on the Use of Cash) Rules 2019 specifies, among other things, the transactions that will

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Reducing Pressure on Housing Affordability Measures No. 2) Bill 2018 which lapsed on the calling of the Federal election, was reintroduced into the House of Reps on 23 October 2019 (with slightly changed name) – with one major amendment. The original bill contained measures to deny the CGT main residence exemption

Not keeping lodgements current or missing reporting deadlines are some of the key indicators to the ATO that a business may no longer be operational. It says it uses information from tax returns, other lodgement activities and even from third parties to help it decide whether ABNs are still being used. The ATO has announced

There is a bill that has just been passed by both houses pf Parliament, the Treasury Laws Amendment (2019 Tax Integrity and Other Measures No. 1) Bill 2019, that could be described as an omnibus bill — a quick look at its table of contents can confirm this. The bill met with amendments in the

Every (yes, every) return to be ATO-scrutinisedLove and affection re-think with commercial debt forgivenessStatement of tax recordNo discretion to remit superannuation excess transfer balance taxResidential vacancy fee: Annual return help, foreign ownersRetirement income review: details revealed PAYGW for staff in foreign service equalised through new admin instrumentTax debt relief appeal based on “serious hardship” not

The Federal Court has held that the Taxation Commissioner Chris Jordan be allowed access to information that one of his Second Commissioners was holding as “protected information” about the tax affairs of Sydney accountant Vanda Russell Gould. Gould had claimed he was defamed in comments made by Jordan at the National Press Club in July