- The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is focusing on ensuring all tax bills and superannuation are paid in full and on time.
- During the pandemic, the ATO adopted a soft approach to debt collection, but it is now shifting back to regular debt collection processes.
- The ATO has high compliance expectations and aims to maintain a high level of compliance.
- The main focus areas for debt collection by the ATO are unpaid super, audit-raised liabilities, refund fraud, aged debts, and new self-assessed employer-based debts.
- Unpaid super is the ATO’s number one focus as it relates to employees’ entitlements and indicates broader financial problems.
- The ATO is also focusing on audit-raised liabilities and expects businesses to pay their taxes promptly.
- The ATO is taking GST fraud seriously and sees it as blatant theft against the community.
- The ATO received funding to pursue private, wealthy organizations with high-value debts.
- The ATO is focusing on self-assessed employer-based debts and aims to encourage businesses to consider taxes as real-time liabilities.
- It is important for businesses to seek help early when they are struggling with debts.
- Clear communication and maintaining an up-to-date compliance record are key to managing tax debts effectively.
Source: smartcompany.com.au
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
