Key dates

Important compliance matters, lodgment dates and consequences of not meeting your obligations

Forward tax planning matters

Sole Traders, Partnerships and Trusts

Self Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSF)

Additional obligations for SMSFs running a business:

Additional obligations for SMSFs with a Corporate Trustee:

Individuals who are not running a business

Compliance matters:

Companies

New Additional requirement for Businesses in the Building and Construction Industry

Compliance matters:

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Medicare Levy Surcharge (go to top)

If your income is greater than the Medicare Levy Surcharge Threshold then you (if you are single), otherwise you and your spouse (if any) and all your dependants must be covered over the entire year by an Appropriate level of private patient hospital cover to avoid paying up to 1.5% extra tax on your income – which is known as the Medicare Levy Surcharge for the days that any one of you weren’t covered (for example if you were covered but one of your kids weren’t covered then you will pay the surcharge even though you had the cover).

This is separate to the Medicare Levy which is a tax that most Australians pay regardless of their private health insurance situation.

Personal Superannuation Contributions (go to top)

Div 293 superannuation charges (go to top)

If your income and concessional super contributions (such as your mandatory superannuation paid by your employer plus any extra super salary sacrificed, plus any personal superannuation contributions made which you are claiming as a deduction in your personal tax return) are more than $250,000 in 2019/20, you may have to pay an additional 15% tax on some or all of your contributions.

This is not something relevant to your tax return booking as it is not calculated when lodging your tax return.

Rather, after the tax return is lodged and processed the ATO will work out if you need to pay Div 293 tax based on information in your tax return and data they receive from your super fund(s). They will issue you with a notice of assessment stating the amount of tax payable and provide an authority to enable your super fund to release the money. You can, however, pay the tax from your non-super savings.

 

Tax Returns – Individuals, Sole Traders, Partnerships, Trusts, Companies and Self-Managed Superfunds (go to top)

Self Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSF) – Audited Tax Returns (go to top)

A SMSF must have its Tax Return audited before it can be lodged with the ATO. The audit is not undertaken by the ATO (although the ATO can later choose to audit a SMSF) but by an approved private auditor. We send all SMSF tax returns to be audited prior to lodgment as part of our service of preparing SMSF tax returns.

PAYG Instalments (go to top)

Pay as you go (PAYG) instalments is a mandatory system for making regular payments towards your next annual tax return liability. It only applies to you if you earn business and/or investment income (ie capital gains, dividends, interest, rental profits etc) over a certain amount.

The Tax Office works out whether you need to be in the PAYG instalments system based on your latest tax return. If the income earned is high enough they will send a letter advising you that you will have to pay PAYG Instalments. These payments act as a “deposit” against your next income tax result. When your next year’s tax return is completed, if the amount you paid throughout the year was more than the tax result, you’ll receive a refund of the overpayment. If the amount was lower than the tax result then you will have to pay the shortfall.

You will receive a document called an Activity Statement or a PAYG Instalment Notice at the end of every Quarter (Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sep, Oct-Dec). The due date for each quarter’s payment is the 28th day of the following month. Therefore the due dates are: 28 Apr, 28 Jul, 28 Oct, 28 Jan

Income Activity Statements (also known as a BAS or an IAS) (go to top)

These documents are used to report various taxes and either make a payment or receive a refund depending on your circumstances

The items that you may be reporting through these documents include:

You will receive a document called an Activity Statement at the end of every Quarter (Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sep, Oct-Dec). Or it will be made available through your business’s myGov account. The due date for each quarter’s lodgment payment is the 28th day of the following month except for the Oct-Dec quarter. The due dates are:

Failure to lodge an Activity Statement on time may result in a penalty of up to $1375 per activity statement

Employer obligations (go to top)

 Single Touch Payroll

ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) lodgments and fees (go to top)

Making changes to a company’s ASIC register

ASIC stores information relating to the company such as the company name, date of registration (also known as the date of Incorporation), physical address, postal address for correspondence from ASIC, the company structure and personal information relating to the shareholders (also known as members) and the directors. When any of these details change you need to inform ASIC within 28 days of the change otherwise you will be penalised. ASIC has started to change these penalties at least once a year however currently they are $70 if you report the change up to one month later than the due date and $292 if reporting over a month late (these amounts may have changed since the time of writing of this article).

 

Annual ASIC Review and fee

Every company has an annual review date, usually the anniversary of its registration date. Soon after its annual review date, we issue each registered company with an annual statement and an invoice statement for the company’s annual review fee. This fee needs to be paid within 28 days of the company’s anniversary otherwise you will be penalised. ASIC has started to change these penalties at least once a year however currently they are $70 if you pay up to one month later than the due date and $292 if paying over a month late.

We will not take any responsibility for your failure to pay your annual ASIC fee regardless of the reason
The Corporations Act states that it is the responsibility of a director of a company to pay the annual fees on time regardless of whether they are notified by ASIC or an ASIC Agent (us). We don’t provide a reminder service for these payments but we do try, as a matter of goodwill, to email you the annual ASIC statements on time. But sometimes this is not possible due to our ASIC system being down or emails being sent to spam folders rather than inboxes or letters that we post somehow don’t make it to our clients. Unfortunately while ASIC officially accepts some of these reasons in order to waive late fees, their requirements of proving that these incidents happen are, in our experience, unrealistic. Therefore you must not rely on us or ASIC to receive the Annual Review Invoice. To avoid being fined, you can set up a yearly scheduled Bpay transfer to ASIC of $250 (their fee is currently $230 but it increases by $5-10 per year). You can also prepay next year’s fees. For companies who are registered with ASIC as having the sole purpose of acting as a trustee for a SMSF the ASIC Annual Review fee is currently $43 but may also increase.

ASIC’s Annual Review fees can be found on their website

 

Solvency Resolution as part of the Annual Review process

Company directors must pass a solvency resolution within 2 months after each review date, unless the company has lodged a financial report under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act 2001, with ASIC within the previous 12 months. There are two types of solvency resolutions

Positive solvency resolution:
This is passed when the directors have reason to believe that the company will be able to pay its debts as and when they become due and payable. You must keep a copy of the solvency resolution, but you do not need to send it to us.

Negative solvency resolution:
This is passed when the directors have reason to believe that the company will not be able to pay its debts as and when they become due and payable. If this resolution is passed, you must also lodge a form notifying ASIC. However please contact us as we can lodge this form for you.

Rules for running a Self Managed Superfund (go to top)

In Summary:

  • You can’t transfer SMSF money to a member or associated entity unless it is to buy an interest in commercial properties or a Condition of Release is met
  • The SMSF can’t borrow money from anyone unless it is structured in a particular way that allows it to use limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBAs)
  • You can’t invest SMSF money unless it is in line with the SMSF investment strategy and fits the Sole Purpose test (your fund needs to be maintained for the sole purpose of providing retirement benefits to your members or to their dependants if a member dies before retirement)
  • There are limitations on the SMSF being able to accept deposits from members including limits on the amount of contributions it can receive
  • All assets owned by the SMSF must be properly named (For example if the trustee is a company called Co Pty Ltd and the SMSF is called WWSuper then the assets must be held in the name of Co Pty Ltd as trustee for WWSuper). If the asset is unable to be named this way due to limitations imposed by the asset provider, such as a bank not allowing an account to be named as such then you must be able to provide proof of this limitation. If the superfund changes trustees or changes its name, all assets must have their names changed as well. This can cost time and money with some assets such as real estate
  • All purchases and sales must be made at Market Value. All assets must be valued at Market Value the end of each financial year
  • A superfund can accept concessional contributions, such as employer contributions up to the limit for that year (in 2019 the limit is $25,000) – exceeding the limit incurs extra taxes

You should use the Tax Office’s guide prior to undertaking any actions in relation to your superfund or ask us for advice.