Rate change for franking credits – 2016/17

The company tax rate for small business has been reduced to 27.5% for 2016-17 and the maximum franking credit your small business clients can allocate has decreased to 27.5% (previously 30%). This reduced rate applies to companies with an aggregated turnover of less than $10 million.

If small businesses have issued distributions for the financial year 2016/17 based on the 30% tax rate they should inform their shareholders of the correct dividend and franking credit amounts as soon as possible. They can do this by sending them a letter with the correct amounts or issuing an amended distribution statement.

For more information see Small business franking guidance

Key dates for July 2017

 This list of key dates is not comprehensive – it is a guide only. Events or timelines may change. Unless otherwise stated, the due dates provided are for 30 June balancers only.

When a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, you can lodge or pay on the next business day.

The payment due dates for a tax return are determined by client type, the lodgment due date and when the return is lodged.

14 July 2017 Issue PAYG withholding payment summaries:
Issue PAYG withholding payment summaries to your payees (employees and other workers) by this date.
21 July 2017 June monthly BAS due:
Issue PAYG withholding payment summaries to your payees (employees and other workers) by this date.
28 July 2017 June quarterly BAS due:
You need to lodge and pay by this date. If you think you will have difficulty paying, still lodge the BAS and contact us to work out a payment plan.
June quarter SG due:
Super guarantee contributions should be made to a complying super fund or retirement savings account by this date.

 NOTE: For more details on upcoming tax due dates for the next financial year, please refer our TAX CALENDAR

Link: https://hurleyco.com.au/tax-calendar-2013-14/

 

 

PREPARING FOR THE NEW WORLD OF SUPER

With SMSFs now holding more than $622 billion in investments, trustees and members who are in a position to should make a point of boosting their balances ahead of 30 June. But there are plenty more issues to consider, some complex and with their own intricacies, which these new, significant super changes present.

An analysis by BGL Corporate Solutions on anonymous data from 1200 administration firms representing over 60,000 SMSFs found at least 15 per cent of SMSFs would be affected by the $1.6 million transfer balance cap, or 85,000 SMSFs with 160,000 members as at 30 September 2015.

SuperConcepts SMSF technical and private wealth executive manager Graeme Colley admits on some level the industry was preparing for major changes to super.

“The main thing to understand will be pensions and how the $1.6 million transfer balance cap works, and it’s also important to understand the distinction between that and the general $1.6 million balance cap because they both determine separate things.

“I’m seeing confusion with some clients over this at the moment so there’s certainly an education piece that we have to do with them.

“Nevertheless, he says SMSFs may have some advantages over the other super structures.

“It’s all in the one packet so from a planning point of view, that allows you to look in camera, and if there are external factors like a public service pension, then at least it’s only one or two benefits outside, which are reasonably easier to understand in terms of their impact on the fund,” he explains.

“Whereas if it’s a client with a number of retail or industry super funds, it might be all that more difficult to get the information and be ready at 30 June as best you can.

First port of call: contributions

In order to take full advantage of the current, more favourable contribution rules, topping up SMSFs where possible is expected to result in an influx of contributions ahead of 30 June.

This will certainly be the case for wealthy individuals, Yee says.

“Especially around maximising non-concessional contributions (NCC) as there is an incentive for those with more than $1.6 million in superannuation to do that before 1 July, when the general balance cap applies and restricts their ability to make large NCCs to superannuation,” he explains.

“I also think there’s an incentive to maximise concessional contributions (CC), especially for those over age 50, this year before the cap drops to $25,000 for all individuals. But not to the same extent as the NCCs.

“An interesting suggestion here is that SMSFs may see borrowing as a viable way to boost their balances.

“People could borrow in order to put money in, but it generally would depend on the state of returns,” says Grant Abott.

“However, you really need to think about what’s the benefit to you because while you can only put the $540,000 in this year, you can still put $300,000 in subsequent years so it’s not the end of the earth.

“There could be some people who will go out and borrow, but I wouldn’t think it’d be too common.”

Crystal Wealth Partners executive director Tim Wedd says if clients are selling a small business to take advantage of the small business tax concessions, it’s important to get the timing right between contributing NCCs and capital gains tax (CGT)-related contributions under the new regime as the $1.6 million total super balance cap will count CGT contributions.

The $1.6 minion question

Arguably the biggest surprise in the government’s 2016 budget package was the introduction of a $1.6 million transfer balance cap, altering pensions from being generally a set-and-forget structure to one that now requires careful planning.

Determining whether pension balances over $1.6 million should be brought back to accumulation phase or be taken out of the super environment requires extensive analysis, and advisers have been prompted to look at clients who are already over $1.4 million and making assessments of what will be done ahead of 30 June.

According to Wedd, there are multiple issues to consider around this change, for example, determining whether a fund has one member somewhere in pension phase over $1.6 million in benefits and if this can lead to the fund losing segregation for tax purposes.

“This will be an important conversation for those affected and whether the CGT relief needs to be adopted,” he explains.

“However, the other less talked about issue around this segregation aspect is what we call ‘member account’ segregation, which has nothing to do with the tax changes.

“Rather, it’s about keeping a member’s account separate in a fund, which doesn’t mean it also has to be ‘segregated’ for tax purposes. For example, one member who is near a $1.6 million balance may choose lower growth options compared to another fund member who invests more aggressively.

“This will lead to different appreciation in the respective account values that may assist keeping all members under the $1.6 million cap and thus the fund still totally tax-free.

“He says this may also help those who want to put in more contributions while their balance is under $1.6 million, however, it will require case-by-case assessment.

Yee adds for the higher-end clients with large super balances, this could be a good value-add exercise for advisers to assist clients to cherry-pick assets between accumulation and pension accounts.

“There are suggestions that this segregation exercise will be better achieved by having two SMSFs— one for accumulation and one for pension,” he says.

“The other potentially time-consuming exercise will be the resetting of cost bases of relevant assets under the CGT transitional period from 9 November 2016 to 30 June 2017,

“A lot of time can be consumed in this exercise, unless the adviser has sophisticated software in place.”

As a result of the work that needs to be done in reviewing and amending SMSFs comes an estate planning opportunity, which will allow this often overlooked area to have greater prominence, Abbott reveals.

“Making wrong decisions will have a significant impact on the estate,” he warns. “The government is basically saying you can have $1.6 million on the pension side.

“So whether you’re rolling back into accumulation or taking it out, either way you need to look at it from an estate planning perspective because this money is generally not going to be used up in their life, bar aged-care costs, but essentially it’s going to be passed on to the next generation.

“So it’s an opportunity for the smarter advisers and accountants to talk about estate planning, but in order to succeed they must get up to speed with the new rules and ensure they let their clients know.”

The dangers of complacency

“Wedd says ultimately it the complexity of the new rules that is concerning for many trustees.

 “This may lead to them not addressing the issues before it is too late. Expect a late rush in June 2017 and calls to the trustee’s accountant, in many cases, who will need to be licensed to provide advice,” he predicts.

Time is ticking

From now until 1 July, Yee says there will be much self-education required of SMSF advisers and trustees on the new super rules and how to make best use of the current and incoming rules.

Abbott says he hadn’t seen evidence of proactive advisers and accountants tackling these issues head on before the Christmas break.

“It’s a really hard one because there’s going to be at least 60,000 to 70,000 people who’ll be impacted by these laws and you just wonder, a lot of these people are looked after by accountants and if they breach the licensing rules, will that have a great impact?” he poses.

“The complication around most of the legislation is the administration side of it. It’s a nightmare. But I think the government’s going to keep tightening the rules as to how much can go into super.

“So it’s a value-add for advisers and particularly accountants because the best thing about the situation is that there’s a time frame on it, so you have to do something, otherwise there will be huge penalties.

“While there’s a lot of work to be done in the space of 10 or 12 weeks, SMSF strategies don’t have to be complicated —you can do quite a lot with modelling.

” As a starting point, Wedd recommends current retirement planning strategies be reviewed, as well as considerations around transition-to-retirement plans, estate planning nominations, contribution levels, fund balances and splitting or equalising benefits between couples, not to mention trust deed reviews to make sure the fund’s deed can cope with the new rules.

“I think it will be very challenging now as the government has removed the ‘simple’ from the previous Simple Super reforms,” he says

“We are back in the midst of complexity, which will make it very difficult for the uninformed trustee to know what to do without proper advice. The SMSF sector will be overdrive in 2017.”

 

Reference: This article is extracted and abbreviated from ‘The Premier Self-Managed Super magazine’

FIGHT OF HIS LIFE -Allan Lorraine-

Enclosed is an inspiring article which illustrates the effects of never giving up and the benefits of paying attention to detail.

FIGHT OF HIS LIFE  

-Allan Lorraine-

In October 2009, Allan Lorraine CPA secured a place for himself and his wife at Mentone Gardens, a Supported Residential Service (SRS) in Melbourne. At the time, he was purely focused on his wife’s wellbeing. “I wasn’t bad enough to go in myself, but my wife was and I didn’t want her in there alone. I knew what could happen in those places to vulnerable people.”

Pleased his wife Rose was settling in well to their new accommodation, Lorraine wasn’t at all expecting the exploitation of Mentone Gardens residents he was soon to uncover.

In June 2013, the management of Mentone Gardens called a meeting, summoning residents and relatives. The 50 or so unsuspecting people who filled the residents’ lounge were addressed by a voluntary administrator who announced the company was going into liquidation.

“I put up my hand and asked about the bonds,” recalls Lorraine. “The administrator replied that he would not take questions publicly. Almost immediately I realised it was all over, that we weren’t going to get our money back.”

The A$11.5 million gap

He was right. When Mentone Gardens, operated by Parklane Assets, was placed into liquidation in September 2013, residents discovered their deposits and bonds had not been held in a trust, as they had been assured. They had lost all their money.

In total, Parklane owed residents A$4.5 million. They owed A$400,000 just to Allan and Rose Lorraine, who had sold their house to help fund their deposit.

This is how a then 90-year-old Lorraine, his professional investigation days 30 years in the past, found himself spearheading arguably the most important investigation of his life — not just for his own sake, but for the many residents incapable of taking action. Three of the 39 residents of Mentone Gardens were aged over 100, many were in their 90s and dementia was common.

This battle would be waged in the murky waters of aged-care regulation. No single agency has overall responsibility for the aged-care sector, and the law during this time was not straightforward. It was only in 2012 that a new SRS Act came in that required residents’ fund account. Just who was accountable was unclear.

Well trained in record keeping, Lorraine estimates he dedicated about 2000 hours to the case. He contacted the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Victoria Police Fraud Squad and local, state and federal politicians; he organised petitions to parliament; he spoke to the liquidator; and held hundreds of corn all the residents about the “bond scandal”.

Based on his own research, Lorraine believed the department had breached its duty of care and that the best approach was to request the state government to pay the A$4.5 million to the residents as an ex gratia (goodwill) payment in order to avoid facing a class action.

He received no response from the minister or premier. Three top law firms refused to take on the case, as they predicted a loss.

Then late in 2014, fortunes turned. A letter from Lorraine to the Victorian ombudsman, Deborah Glass, had raised sufficient alarm for her to launch a formal investigation.

Glass’s investigation into the Health Department’s files on Mentone Gardens exposed “a litany of failings”. Her 2015 report noted that Parklane had not provided proper financial records for the entire 25-year history of the company The department received numerous complaints over many years relating to administration of medication, record keeping, quality of care, privacy and delays in the repayment of bonds. Mentone Gardens was prosecuted twice by the department itself — in 19 — for breaches of regulatory standards. Despite this, the renewed registration nine times from 1998. The department 2- identify the insolvent state of the company for nearly three years.

Victory

When the ombudsman released her report: Investigation into the Department of Health Oversight of Mentone Gardens, a Supported Residential Service in April 2015, she recommended, as Lorraine had, that the state government make ex gratia payments to the people (or their estates) who had lost bonds, deposits or unspent fees paid in advance.

On the evening Glass announced her recommendations, Lorraine received a phone call at his home from the new minister for aging, Martin Foley, telling him the former residents of Mentone Gardens would receive A$4.33 million in payments. “I felt gratified and thanked the minister,” Lorraine recalls. Others describe the victory with less restraint. Daughter Margaret recalls being “ecstatic”. Bob was “elated” and Higgins was “over the moon”.

In late 2015, the money was paid and, on 21 October 2016, Allan Lorraine was honoured by the government with an Order of Australia medal for his service to the community, particularly to aged care.

Reference: CPA Australia magazine February 2017

HOAM LOAN INTEREST RATES

We currently have a home loan broker operating in our office premises, Mr. Scott Campton, the Director of Financial Solutions by Design. He is available to help you with home loan requirements and best rates.

Please also note that Scott assists with business and commercial finance. Scott has shared a link below to a recent Sydney Morning Herald article regarding current interest rates changes.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/why-ultralow-interest-rates-are-on-the-nose-20161027-gscpf4.html

Should you have any questions or scenarios, please call myself for an introduction or call Scott on 0499 499 388.

MYOB’S ONLINE RECOVERY ACT

MYOB’S JOHN MOSS IS FIGHTING TO SOLVE A CLASSIC STRATEGIC CHALLENGE: HOW A POWERFUL INCUMBENT CAN RESPOND TO INNOVATIVE NEW COMPETITORS.

Australia’s SME accounting software market is one of the most competitive software spaces in the world. It was the first big market for cloud software provider Xero, now a global force. US giant Intuit has set up shop to more effectively sell QuickBooks Online, its answer to Xero. Long-time local player Reckon is selling its newly built Reckon One product, and UK giant Sage is trying to make inroads with its own Sage One. In the middle of this shootout is the Australian-based MYOB, long the dominant player in the market and now trying to retain its position in the evolving online accounting software market. How would you like to be steering the strategic course through all that? The man doing just that is John Moss, MYOB’s chief strategy officer since 2012. He says the company is rapidly winning online customers in the Australian and New Zealand markets. 

In the years around 2007, as Xero built its product in New Zealand, MYOB experienced a classic case of innovator’s dilemma. At the time, the company felt it needed to prioritise its base of about 1.2 million desktop clients. Now it is working hard to make up lost ground online.

“We’ve really shifted ourselves from what was a desktop-only company to primarily an online company now,” says Moss, pointing to a 46 per cent growth in online subscriptions in 2015. “I think in the second quarter, 78 per cent of our SME clients chose online solutions rather than desktop. We’ve now got 170,000 online customers and it’s growing pretty rapidly.”

Yet a powerful historical legacy remains: MYOB also still has 375,000 paying offline SME customers, with 56 per cent of its revenues coming from desktop users. In comparison, cloud provider Xero has signed up more than 600,000 subscribers globally, including more than 425,000 in Australia and New Zealand.

Moss says he is confident MYOB now has the right strategies and culture in place to complete its transformation to a serious online player. `We have many more product managers who have spent their entire career on online solutions and tools, marketing team members who are digital first, who think quite differently to the team we had four years ago. Internally, there’s been a very large cultural change.”

The challenge of incumbency

MYOB may now be focused on building its online presence, but its strategy continues to be influenced by its legacy as a desktop software company. “We’re trying to build solutions for clients who have got slightly different needs and desires,” explains Moss.

It’s a problem the new generation of online-only players simply don’t face. “If you’re a complete new entrant with no base, you can behave quite differently,” he says.

While competitors such as Xero invest all their resources in a single online offering, MYOB has developed both the AccountRight Live tool — which Moss says is designed largely for the desktop base — and the Essentials tools, focused on entrants coming into the market for the first time.

IVIYOB’s legacy continues to influence its products, even as the company seeks to move clients into the cloud. `Whilst we’ve moved all our tools online,” he says, “there are slight nuances in those just to recognise the fact that we’ve got different client segments and they want different things.”

Yet Moss believes that the company’s decision to focus exclusively on the Australian and New Zealand markets gives it an important competitive advantage. “There are some global players out there that are trying to build global platforms, arid they invest effectively across multiple jurisdictions,” he says. `We know from having been a global player a decade ago that it’s quite costly doing that.”

In contrast, over the past year MYOB devoted A$47 million to R&D spending on new features designed especially for the Australian and New Zealand markets. `We are very comfortable with our ANZ focus,” says Moss. “We believe in delivering solutions for them and we believe that we’ll compete very strongly in that space.”

Building an online ecosystem

Moss says that a key part of MYOB’s approach has been to build its software capabilities through strategic acquisitions, such as the purchase of BankLink in 2013. The aim is to expand the capabilities of MYOB’s products and better serve changing client needs through rapid access to innovative solutions.

“We want to understand how best to provide and service those needs — sometimes it’s an acquisition, sometimes it’s a partnership and sometimes we build it ourselves,” he explains.

Moss adds that partnerships have helped make MYOB’s products more attractive by creating a flexible ecosystem of integrated solutions that clients can adapt to very specific needs.

“There’s specific functionality that certain industries require, and we could never go out and build all of those very specific bespoke solutions,” he says. “So we try to create a platform that our clients can then access on the applications and have developers build on top of that to make it a seamless experience for our customers.”

That platform is also designed to give accountants a rich dashboard of client information for a higher level of service. “We try to help accountants to be advisers to their end customers, not just transaction processors and compliance agents,” says Moss.

Evolving at speed

Moss continues to map future scenarios and potential strategic responses in a rapidly evolving market.

“We look at our environment, we look at how things may change from a technology perspective, and we create a number of scenarios,” he says. `We’ll discuss and debate those. How likely are those to occur? What are the sorts of events that need to occur to create that end point? How can we shape those going forward?”

In one recent exercise, Moss and his team asked themselves what would happen if a new player adopted a “freemium” model — giving away accounting software free of charge.

“You have to think about how things will look in five or 10 years’ time. Will your own industry exist? There’s probably a lot more future thinking required now than in the past, just because of the sheer breadth of potential distribution.

Reference: Extracted from “In The Black” Magazine_July 2016_Article by John Moss

Ethics in Finance – Survey

IN JULY 2016, the Governance Institute of Australia’s inaugural Ethics Index — the first survey of its kind conducted in Australia – was launched.

Significantly, the research found more people view company chairs, CEOs and senior executives as being unethical rather than ethical. (The research didn’t miss journalists either with 4o% of those surveyed rating my vocation as unethical. But I digress.)

Accountants fared pretty well, professionals considered the most ethical professionals in the banking, finance and insurance sector. This highlights the important role of chartered accountants in creating ethical corporate cultures. 

A robust corporate culture can be a driver of best practice, or ethical conduct, declared Greg Medcraft CA, chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), in a speech delivered at the launch of the Ethics Index in Sydney.

“Ethical conduct can help organisations move beyond minimum standards and ‘tick a box’ compliance practices to best practice standards and compliance practices that protect stakeholders and which are commercially valuable,” he said.

“If your culture genuinely reflects `doing the right thing’, this will be rewarded with longevity, customer loyalty and a sustainable business:’

Ethical standings

The Ethics Index surveyed more than 1,000 people and found that while Australians regard themselves as “somewhat ethical” with an index rating of 39, large corporations and the banking finance and insurance sector didn’t score so well, which probably isn’t really a surprise given the bank scandals in Australia in recent years.

The banking, finance and insurance sector scored the lowest Ethics Index score among all sectors (-5), though n. all the occupations within the classification have been tarred with the same brush. Accountants, for example, lead the sector by being seen as ethical by 1 in 2 respondents, while the lowest rated in the sector, mortgage brokers, are seen as ethical by 1 in 3.

By organisations, superannuation funds are seen as the most ethical ( 41-47% ethical score), retail banks and life insurance companies score poorly (29% and 26% ethical score respectively), and industry bottom feeders the Pay Day lenders recorded the worst rating of all sectors surveyed (a 63% unethical score).

In the banking and finance sector the data shows Australians regard incentives as being very important to ethical conduct. Incentives and remuneration are key areas of focus for ASIC, according to Medcraft.

“We have also recently commenced a review to examine the mortgage brokering market to determine the effect of current remuneration structures on the quality of consumer outcomes,” he said.

Occupations (%) Unethical (Net) Ethical (Net) Net Score
Accountants 17 47 +30
Tax Agents 24 40 +16
Bank Managers 28 38 +10
Financial Planners 30 37 +7
Fund Managers 31 32 +1
Mortgage Brokers 32 31 -1
Reference: Acuity | October 2016

What You Need to Know About Repaying HELP Financing

If you participate in the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) to assist in financing your education, you must start to repay the debt once your income exceeds a government-set repayment threshold for the income tax year, even if you are still in school.

There are actually two ways in which you can pay your student contribution under the HELP scheme:


  1. Make a full or partial up-front payment to the university.
    For a full up-front contribution you only need to pay 90 percent of the total; the Government pays the remaining 10 percent to the educational institution you are attending. Even partial contribution payments of $500 or more are eligible for the 10 percent discount.

  2. Repay the government through the tax system
    if the government has paid your contribution under the HELP scheme. HELP debts are collectable through the pay as you go (PAYG) system. Have the government pay the contribution (or the balance if you made a partial up-front payment) and agree to repay the government through the tax system.

If you choose the second method, you start repaying when your repayment income exceeds that threshold, which changes annually. Repayment income is the sum of your taxable income, net investment losses, fringe benefits, exempt foreign employment income and superannuation contributions.

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) calculates your compulsory repayment for the income year in question and includes the amount on your notice of assessment. If you are a student, you must let your employer or other payer know that you have an accumulated HELP debt, either on a Tax File Number declaration or on a Withholding declaration.

Whoever is paying you must start to withhold additional amounts from your pay once your earnings reach a statutory amount, which is revised annually. The additional withholdings are to cover any compulsory repayments.

These amounts go into the total tax withheld shown on your annual PAYG payment summary. The compulsory repayment will be calculated when your income tax return for the year is processed. If there was not enough money withheld during the year, the amount to be repaid will show on your income tax notice of assessment.

If you made any voluntary repayments of $500 or more, you will receive a bonus on the compulsory repayment amount.

While there is no real interest charged on HELP loans, your debt is indexed each year to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index. The ATO makes this adjustment on June 1 each year and applies it to the portion of your debt that has been unpaid for 11 months or more.

Before applying for a HELP loan, consult with us on (02) 9954 3843 to help ensure you are clear on how they work and that they are suitable for your current and anticipated financial situation.

Article as seen at http://checkpointmarketing.thomsonreuters.com/

ATO Powers In Response to SMSF Contraventions

The ATO – as the regulator of SMSFs (self-managed super funds) – has a range of treatments available to it to deal with SMSF trustees who have not complied with the super laws. The ATO says its primary focus is to encourage SMSF trustees to comply with the super laws. However, SMSF trustees should be aware of the range of penalties or actions that the ATO could apply in the event of a contravention.

These include the following actions:

  • Education direction – the ATO says it may give an SMSF trustee a written direction to undertake a course of education when they have been found to have contravened super laws. The education course is designed to improve both the competency of SMSF trustees and their ability to meet their regulatory obligations, and to reduce the risk of trustees contravening the law in future.
  • Enforceable undertakings – the ATO can decide whether or not to accept an undertaking from an SMSF trustee to rectify a contravention. The undertaking must be provided to the ATO in writing and must include the following:
    • a commitment to stop the behaviour that led to the contravention;
    • the action that will be taken to rectify the contravention;
    • the timeframe to rectify the contravention;
    • how and when the trustee will report that the contravention has been rectified; and
    • the strategies to prevent the contravention from recurring.
  • Rectification directions – the ATO may give a trustee or a director of a corporate trustee a written direction to rectify a contravention of the super laws. A rectification direction will require that a person undertakes specified action to rectify the contravention within a specified time, and provide evidence of compliance with the direction.
  • Administrative penalties – from 1 July 2014, individual trustees and directors of corporate trustees will be personally liable to pay an administrative penalty for various contraventions of the super law (breaching the SMSF borrowing rules or the in-house asset rules etc). The penalty cannot be paid or reimbursed from the assets of the fund.
  • Disqualification of a trustee – the ATO may disqualify an individual from acting as a trustee or director of a corporate trustee if they have contravened the super laws. The ATO can also disqualify an individual if it is concerned with the actions of that individual or if it doubts they are suitable to be a trustee.
  • Civil and criminal penalties – the ATO may apply through the courts for civil or criminal penalties to be imposed. Civil and criminal penalties apply where SMSF trustees have contravened provisions relating to these:
    • the sole purpose test;
    • lending to members;
    • the borrowing rules;
    • the in-house asset rules;
    • prohibition of avoidance schemes;
    • duty to notify the regulator of significant adverse events;
    • arm’s length rules for an investment;
    • promotion of illegal early release schemes.
  • Allowing the SMSF to wind-up – following a contravention, the trustee may decide to wind-up the SMSF and rollover any remaining benefits to a fund regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). Depending on the actions of the trustees and the type of contravention, the ATO may continue to issue the SMSF with a notice of non-compliance and/or apply other compliance treatments.
  • Notice of non-compliance – serious contraventions of the super laws may result in an SMSF being issued with a notice of non-compliance by the ATO. A notice of non-compliance is effective for the year it is given and all subsequent years. A fund remains a non-complying fund until a notice of compliance is given to the fund.
  • Freezing SMSF assets – the ATO may give a trustee or investment manager a notice to freeze an SMSF’s assets where it appears that conduct by the trustees or investment manager is likely to adversely affect the interests of the beneficiaries to a significant extent. This is particularly important when the preservation of benefits is at risk.

Informal arrangements

The ATO says it may take one or several courses of action, depending on how serious the contravention is and the circumstances involved. In some circumstances, the ATO may enter into an informal arrangement with a trustee to rectify a minor contravention within a short period of time. The arrangement can be made verbally or in writing and includes how and when the contravention will be rectified. The ATO will consider the trustee’s compliance history in deciding whether to accept the arrangement. The ATO may also provide trustees with informal education about their trustee obligations.

ATO identification of risk posed by SMSFs

The ATO will apply a risk-based approach in response to auditor contravention reports (ACRs). The Commissioner said he will consider multiple indicators and use risk models to determine the appropriate action to take on each SMSF. The key indicators used will include non-compliance (including regulatory and income tax matters), information from the SMSF annual return, ACRs, and other data, including trustee and members’ records.

Under this approach, the ATO will treat all ACRs received with an audit, phone call or letter, shortly after lodgment, to provide more certainty to trustees. The ATO said this approach also recognises the increased SMSF auditor professionalism stemming from the new ASIC registration regime, warranting less intrusive action in many cases.

The ATO’s risk categories for SMSFs include the following:

  • High-risk SMSFs – will be selected for comprehensive audits that will see scrutiny of all regulatory and income tax risks displayed by the fund. There will be a particular focus on repeat offenders. This program will also involve an increasing number of ATO field visits to engage high-risk SMSFs. ATO administrative penalties for breaches by an SMSF trustee (up to $10,200 per breach) will be applied when the Commissioner confirms the breach is eligible for such a penalty.
  • Medium-risk SMSFs – the ATO will take less intrusive action on SMSFs assessed as medium risk. As trustees are responsible for their fund’s behaviour, the ATO says it will engage directly with trustees to discuss the reported contravention, remind trustees of their obligations, and encourage compliance in future. This action will usually occur within six to eight weeks of the ACR lodgment. In the majority of cases, if the trustee can assure the Commissioner that they understand their obligations, the issues reported in the ACR will be closed and no penalties applied. The ATO’s aim is to intervene before more serious comprehensive audits are required.
  • Lower-risk SMSFs – will be issued with tailored correspondence reminding the trustees of their obligations and encouraging compliance in future. The issue reported in the ACR will be closed with the issuing of this letter which will usually occur within six to eight weeks of the ACR’s lodgment.

Want to know more?

Please contact our office on (02) 9954 3534 or email admin@hurleyco.com.au for more information.

Article as seen at http://checkpointmarketing.thomsonreuters.com/

Tax Scams: Don’t Be a Victim

The ATO warns taxpayers to always watch out for scammers. Each year, the ATO receives a growing number of reports from the public of new phishing scams. Not only do scammers try to steal money, they also try to steal identities. The misuse of stolen personal information has been recognised in income tax evasion, customs duty and GST fraud, superannuation fraud and welfare fraud.

Scammers are becoming more cunning in their attempts to defraud the public and trick people into handing over money, their tax file numbers or other personal information. Some perpetrators of such scams send emails containing the latest ATO website imagery and the names and signatures of real ATO staff.

The typical story is that a fraudster contacts a taxpayer out of the blue claiming the taxpayer has overpaid taxes and is entitled to a refund. The fraudster often asks the taxpayer to pay an “administration” or “transfer” fee to obtain the refund. They may also ask for the taxpayer’s personal details including financial details such as bank account information, so the “refund” can be transferred. If the taxpayer hands over money, chances are that it is never seen again, and no transfer is forthcoming.

In another typical scam, fraudsters phone to demand that people pay allegedly unpaid taxes. The ATO is aware of one such aggressive scam where taxpayers are threatened with arrest if they do not pay a fake “tax debt” over the phone. Scammers may also demand payment in gift cards, such as iTunes or prepaid Visa cards.

Scams are most prevalent during tax time, but taxpayers should remain aware and vigilant throughout the year. If you receive an email or a phone call out of the blue from “the ATO” claiming that you are entitled to a refund, that you owe taxes or that you must confirm, update or disclose confidential details like your tax file number, delete the email (do not click any links) or hang up the phone.

From time to time the ATO will send emails, text messages or official social media updates advising of new services. However, the ATO’s messages will never request personal or financial information by SMS or email. If you receive a call, an email or an SMS and are concerned about providing personal information, you can call the ATO on 1800 008 540 (8 am to 6 pm, Monday to Friday). You can also contact our office if you have concerns.

You should practise the same level of vigilance in relation to calls and emails claiming to be from other government authorities, such as state revenue authorities.

Document verification service for businesses

The Government has developed an electronic document verification service (DVS) for business use. The DVS helps businesses to protect themselves against identity crime and makes it easier for businesses to meet their regulatory obligations to verify customers’ identities. The DVS allows businesses to verify information on driver licences, passports, visas and Medicare cards “in real time” directly with the issuing agencies. The system is not a database and does not store any personal information. All DVS checks must occur with the informed consent of the person involved. Further information is available on the DVS website.

Want to know more?

Please contact our office on (02) 9954 3534 or email admin@hurleyco.com.au for more information.

Article as seen at http://checkpointmarketing.thomsonreuters.com/