Small business litigation funding: improvements recommended
A recent Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman (IGTO) has recommended improvements to the small business litigation funding program. The report by the IGTO was mainly based on 2 completed dispute investigations, with a further 3 investigations currently underway. The original intention of the funding program was to mitigate the disadvantage that small business taxpayers …
Financial Stability Review – October 2023
The Financial Stability Review provides the Bank’s assessment of the current condition of the financial system and potential risks to financial stability. It is issued half-yearly. Source: https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/fsr/2023/oct/
Aggregated turnover: Commissioner discretion
The ATO has recently released a Taxation Determination to provide guidance on two specific issues of control in relation to the aggregated turnover test and when the Commissioner of Taxation can exercise discretion. The aggregated turnover threshold for being a small business entity was originally less than $2m; however, that threshold was increased to less …
Compliance actions available to the ATO: SMSFs
The ATO has been ramping up compliance activity in response to an increasing number of SMSFs which have been identified as not complying with superannuation obligations. A quick refresher for trustees on how the ATO deals with SMSF non-compliance and the range of compliance action available to the ATO may assist trustees to act proactively …
ATO shifting to firmer debt collection
The Commissioner has flagged a return to firmer debt collection actions after seeing a trend of profitable businesses that have the capacity to pay their tax debts but are actively choosing not to. It warns business taxpayers not to treat ATO liabilities like a free loan, and reiterates that businesses are only temporary custodians of …