• Warning to watch out for myGov tax scams – The government’s Stay Smart Online website warns there has been a surge in scammers impersonating myGov and the ATO to trick people into giving them money or personal details.
• ATO has refunded $10 billion so far – The ATO says that $10 billion has been refunded to Australian taxpayers so far this tax time, an increase of over $2 billion from this time last year.
• ATO watching for undisclosed foreign income this tax time – The ATO reminds taxpayers who receive any foreign income from investments, family members or working overseas to make sure they report it this tax time.
• Unusual claims disallowed – Almost 700,000 taxpayers have claimed $2 billion of “other” expenses including non-deductible items such as dental costs, child care and Lego sets.
• ATO contacting small employers about Single Touch Payroll – The ATO is writing to small employers who have yet to start reporting or apply for a deferral, to remind them of their STP obligations.
• Disclosing business tax debt information: ATO consultation – The law is being changed to let the ATO report business tax debt information to credit reporting bureaus where businesses avoid their tax debts.
• Cross-border recovery of taxation debts – An updated practice statement outlines options available for the ATO to recover a tax debt where the debtor is outside Australia.
• ATO superannuation focus areas – The ATO has released its presentation to the 2019 Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia National Policy Roadshow outlining emerging focus areas for 2019–2020.
• Compassionate release of super only available in limited cases – The ATO has recently seen a significant increase in queries about the compassionate release of super.
• Personal services income rules: unrelated clients test – The Federal Court has set aside an AAT decision that income a business analyst derived through a company was subject to the PSI rules.