ATO reforms on deductible gift recipients

The Government has announced a reform of the Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status to strengthen governance arrangements, reduce administrative complexity and ensure trust and confidence in the sector.

The reforms are as follows:

• From 1 July 2019, non-government DGR’s must be registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Non-for-profits Commission. Non-government DGR’s that are not already registered will automatically be registered as of 1 July 2019 and will have a 12 month transitional period to assist with compliance.
• The four DGR registers currently administered by other government departments will be integrated into the ACNC’s charity register, and duplicative reporting requirements will be abolished. DGR endorsement assessments for the registers will be undertaken by the ATO. Eligibility for the register of cultural organisations will be extended to include organisations that promote Indigenous languages.
• External Conduct Standards will be enforced by ACNC to strengthen the oversight of overseas activities.
• There will be additional funding to support additional reviews of charity and DGR eligibility based on risk.

FBT issues that raise ATO attention

With the FBT year-end just around the corner, it is a good time to review your FBT compliance to avoid raising attention from the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

The ATO is currently targeting the following rules for FBT:

Motor vehicles
Situations where an employer-provided motor vehicle is used or available for private travel for staff. This is a fringe benefit and must be declared on the FBT return (if lodgment is required). However, there are some circumstances where this is exempt; be sure to check before lodgement.

Employee contributions
The ATO focus on employee contributions that have been paid by an employee to an employer and are declared on both the FBT return and employer’s income tax return to ensure they are correctly reported.

Employer rebate
A taxpayer must be a rebatable employer to claim a FBT rebate, the ATO will check the taxpayer’s eligibility as some employers incorrectly claim for this rebate.

Living-away-from-home (LAFHA) allowance
Common errors with the LAFHA allowance include claiming reductions for ineligible employees, failing to obtain declarations from employees, claiming a reduction in the taxable value of the LAFHA benefit for exempt accommodation and food in invalid circumstances and failing to substantiate expenses relating to accommodation and food or drink.

Non-lodgement
Employers who provide fringe benefits must lodge a FBT return unless the taxable value of all benefits has been reduced to nil.

Car parking valuation
Common errors include market valuations that are significantly less than the fees charged for parking within a one km radius of the premises on which the car is parked, the use of rates paid where the parking facility is not readily identifiable as a commercial parking station, rates charged for monthly parking on properties purchased for future development that do not have any car park infrastructure, and insufficient evidence to support the rates used as the lowest fee charged for all day parking by a commercial parking station.

FBT parking exemptions for small businesses

It is quite common for small businesses to provide their staff with car parking benefits, however, many business owners may not take into account the effect parking has for fringe benefits tax (FBT) purposes.

Fortunately, if you are a small business, car parking benefits are exempt if you meet all of the following conditions:

– the parking is not provided in a commercial car park
– you are not a government body, a listed public company, or a subsidiary of a listed public company
– either your gross total income for the last income year before the relevant fringe benefits tax (FBT) year was less than $10 million, or you were a small business for the last income year before the relevant FBT year.

Where an employer reimburses an employee’s car parking fees, i.e., if they park at a commercial car park, this will subject the employer to FBT.

ATO targeting mischaracterised lifestyle assets and private pursuits

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is targeting privately owned and wealthy groups that display specific behaviours and characteristics in relation to their tax affairs and lifestyle.

A large focus is currently on lifestyle assets and private pursuits that generate deductions or are mischaracterised as business activities. The ATO is also looking at those assets and pursuits which are incorrectly accounted for in terms of Division 7A or Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT).

Activities that attract the Tax Office’s attention include:
– private aircraft ownership or activities
– art ownership and dealings
– car or motorbike racing activities
– luxury and charter boat activities
– enthusiast or luxury motor vehicles
– grape growing and other farming pursuits
– horse breeding, racing and training activities
– holiday homes and luxury accommodation provision
– sporting clubs and other activities involving the participation of principals or associates of principals of private groups.

The ATO is addressing the following tax risks:

Income tax
– Entities claiming deductions from ownership lifestyle assets or private pursuits against other income derived by the entity but not carrying on a business.
– Individuals disposing of assets and not declaring the revenue or capital gains on those disposals.
– Entities incorrectly apportioning deductions where assets have been used privately or periods not available for rent or hire.
– Division 7A – individuals purchasing assets through their business entities but applying assets to the personal enjoyment of a shareholder or associate of a private company giving rise to a deemed dividend.

FBT
– Individuals purchasing assets through their business entities but applying those assets to the personal enjoyment of an employee or associate giving rise to a FBT liability.

GST
– The purchasing of assets or expenditures concerning private pursuits for personal use through their business or related entities and claiming input tax credits they are not entitled to claim.

Superannuation
– SMSF’s acquiring assets but applying them to the benefit of the fund’s trustee or beneficiaries.

Earning income from the sharing economy

The holiday season is a peak time for activities in the sharing economy to increase. During this time those participating in the sharing economy must not forget their tax obligations.

The most common sharing economy activities around the festive season include:
– Providing ride-sourcing services for a fare.
– Completing jobs or errands for payment.
– Renting out a room or a whole house or unit.
– Renting out a vehicle or a car parking space.

Depending on the activity, the tax obligations vary. The ATO is reminding those that participate in the sharing economy to consider the following:
– declaring income in their tax return
– what income tax deductions and GST credits they can claim for expenses related to earning income and what they can’t claim because of personal use
– how all of their sharing economy earnings added together affect their income tax and GST obligations
– keeping records of their income and expenses to meet their tax obligations

Annual ATO closure

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) will be closed from midday Friday 22 December 2017 to 8.00am Tuesday 2 January 2018 over the festive season.

The Tax Agent Portal Dashboard and BAS Agent Portal Dashboard will be available to check portal availability.

The ATO’s technical help desk will be available from 7.00am to 6.00pm weekdays, excluding public holidays and 10.00am to 4.00pm Saturdays to assist with technical log on, connection, firewall and VPN issues.

The Tax Office will hold returns and forms not processed before the annual closure until processing resumes in the New Year.

Lodgements made after 7 December may not issue until the New Year.

Early payments

Taxpayers are being reminded they can prepay amounts towards their expected tax bill to help stay on top of their tax and avoid falling into debt.

To make a prepayment to the Tax Office, you must get the correct payment reference number, decide how much to pay and choose a payment method.

Using the correct payment reference number is critical in ensuring the ATO credits the right account.

The payment reference number can be found on a relevant notice or payment slip received from the ATO, or through the ATO portals.

The ATO’s research shows keeping amounts for GST, super and income tax payments separate from other business affairs, i.e., in a separate bank account or by making a prepayment helps to stay on top of payments to the Tax Office.

ATO’s data matching programs

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has sophisticated data matching programs in place to ensure individuals and businesses are complying with their obligations and to uphold the integrity of the tax system for the community at large.

The Tax Office uses data matching to pre-fill tax returns, ensure people and businesses are lodging tax returns and activity statements when required, correctly declaring their income and claiming offsets, and meeting their tax obligations.

It helps to detect dishonest individuals and businesses operating outside the tax system, detect fraud against the Commonwealth and to recover debt.

The following areas are currently under close scrutiny:

Credit and debit cards
The ATO obtains data from banks and financial institutions to identify the total credit and debit card payments received by Australian businesses.

Specialised payment systems
Data on electronic payments made through specialised payment systems to Australian businesses is analysed in conjunction with data collected through the credit and debit card data-matching program.

Business transactions through payment systems
Data is collected from organisations that process electronic payments for businesses in a report.

Online selling
Details of online sellers who sell goods and services to the value of $12,000 or more is attained. Data is obtained from online selling sites where the data owner or its subsidiary:
– Operates a business in Australia that is governed by Australian law.
– Provides an online marketplace for businesses and individuals to buy and sell goods and services.
– Tracks the activity of registered sellers.
– Has clients whose annual trading activity amounts to $12,000 or more.
– Has trading activity for the years in focus.

Ride-sourcing
Data is obtained from ride-sourcing facilitators operating in Australia and/or their financial institutions to identify ride-sourcing drivers. This information is used to notify drivers and help them understand their tax obligations.

Motor vehicle registries
The Tax Office acquires data from all the state and territory motor vehicle registering bodies to identify all motor vehicles sold, transferred or newly registered, where the transfer and/or market value is $10,000 or more.

Using the margin scheme for property sales

Those selling property as part of a business sale may be eligible for the margin scheme.

The margin scheme is a way of working out the GST you must pay on the property that you are selling as part of your business. The scheme is only applicable if the sale of a property is taxable.

The GST on property sales is generally equal to one-eleventh of the sale price. If the margin scheme is used, the GST is calculated on the difference between the sale price and your purchase price of the property (or the property’s value on 1 July 2000 if it was acquired before that date).

To meet the eligibility requirements you need to be registered for GST or required to be registered for GST.

Contact our office to check your eligibility for the margin scheme when selling property as the application of GST to property-related transactions can be quite complex.

Changes to GST on low-value imported goods

Australian goods and services tax (GST) will be implemented on sales of low-value goods imported into Australia by consumers as of 1 July 2018.

According to the ATO, business will have to register for GST, change GST on sales of low-value imported goods and lodge returns if they meet the $75,000 AUD registration threshold.

These business includes merchants who sell goods, electronic distribution platform operators or re-delivers. Customs duty and clearance charges will be changed to the importer at the border under existing process should goods be imported in a consignment over the value of $1,000 AUD.

Through the implementation of this new law, businesses will not:
– Charge GST on a sale where GST is to be charged at the border. This occurs when an item is worth over $1,000 AUD or is a tobacco product or alcoholic beverage.
– Need to charge GST where it is clear that multiple goods will be shipped in the one consignment coming to a value of over $1,000 AUD. In these instances, GST will be charged at the border instead.

The ATO will be holding a number of international engagements on the application of Australian GST to low-value, imported goods sales throughout November 2017.