Business Update Week 22 2022

30/05/2022 | My Bookkeeping Buddy

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward.

Antony Albanese becomes Australia’s PM

First Labor PM in nearly a decade vows to bring Australians together, and “promote unity and optimism, not fear and division.”

Grim forecast for inflation and wage growth

Australian wages are expected to take anywhere from 9 to 14 years to catch up with rise in inflation, says a forecast from RBA.

Labour shortages biggest issue for Australian employers

With migration levels down due to the pandemic, labour shortages are one of the leading challenges for Australian businesses.

Unemployment rate at lowest point since 1974

The rate dropped slightly to 3.9% this month. However, reduced working hours due to flooding and sickness leave due to the omicron variant meant the number of jobs added to the economy did not significantly change.

Penalties for Overdue TPAR

The Taxable Payments Annual Report Lodgement Due Date – 28th August Annually

The Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR) must be lodged by 28th August each year. If your business makes payments to contractors you may need to report these payments in a TPAR.
From the 23rd of March 2022, the ATO will apply failure to lodge penalties to those who:

Did not lodge their 2021 or prior year TPAR.
Have already been sent three non lodgement letters about their overdue TPAR.
Do not respond to our follow-up phone call about their overdue TPAR.

In coming weeks, the ATO may phone business owners about their overdue TPAR, to follow up the lodgement letters they have sent.
If you have overdue TPARs, lodge them now.

Reminder to Business Owners:

You may face penalties for an overdue TPAR.
If necessary, lodge a TPAR by 28th August each year.
Keeping good records makes preparing TPAR easier. Setting up TPAR reporting in software makes this an easy report.
Consider lodging a nil report or no report necessary if your business is no longer providing TPRS listed services.

The details you need to report include:

The contractor’s ABN.
Their name (individual or business).
Their address.
The gross amount you paid to them for the financial year, including any GST paid and any tax withheld.

Be aware that if you receive invoices that include both labour and materials, you have to report the total amount of the payment. This is regardless of whether the invoice is itemised or combined. If you use the same contractors throughout the year, check with these people that their ABN is the same and hasn’t changed over the period. You can use the ABN Lookup facility online to check ABNs if needed.

Source: ATO – Penalties for overdue TPAR

Valuable Small Business Tools

There are a number of government services geared towards making life easier for those considering going into a business and business owners wishing to improve or develop their business.

Australian Small Business & Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO)

The key functions of the ASBFEO is to assist and advocate for small businesses and family enterprises. The role of the ASBFEO is to:

Advocate for small business and family enterprises.
Provide assistance through access to dispute resolution services.
Ensure government policies are ‘small business friendly.’

The service has a great guide to starting a business, using a guide to take a budding entrepreneur through each step of starting a business and providing help to understand what to expect in business. There is also an opportunity to ‘chat now’ to someone to get direction.

ASBFEO’s ‘Assistance Team’ responds to requests for assistance from small business and family enterprises that are in dispute with other businesses or Commonwealth Government agencies, providing:

Information about dispute resolution options.
Access to mediation.
Alternative dispute resolution processes under the Franchising, Horticulture, Dairy and Oil Codes of Conduct.
Assistance with disputes with the ATO.

ASBFEO’s ‘Advocacy Team’ undertakes many different activities to advocate for small business and family enterprise, such as:

Providing advice and insights to policy and decision makers.
Conducting research.
Delivering inquiries.
Commenting on legislation.
Providing advice to Ministers.
Outreach and engagement activities.

There are many useful resources, tools, and sources of information available to assist and support small businesses and family enterprises to run their business.

Australian Business Licence & Information Service (ABLIS)

ABLIS is a national service delivered by a partnership of Australian, State and Territory governments, and helps you identify and find relevant state, territory and Australian government licences, permits, approvals, regulations, and codes of practice, allowing you to obtain detailed information and manage the many compliance obligations.

All your legal obligations are listed in one place and it is easy to use. For example, in a matter of seconds you can search a business type in your state or territory then proceed through the steps to ‘Business Structure’ and ‘Business operations’. Based on the answers given, a list is provided of all the licences, permits and other information relevant to your business and the location of your business. The page may be bookmarked to deal with when you’re ready, or you may choose to have search results emailed to yourself. Items marked have particular importance to the business and show a link to the relevant website.

Support for Businesses in Australia

‘Support for businesses in Australia’ at business.gov.au has information, grants, services, and support from across government to help your business succeed. The guides are available to help plan, start and run your business. There are helpful guides as well to grow your business, such as a guide to exporting’ if that would suit your business model.

The ‘guide to continuing your business’ provides positive steps you can take to help keep your business operating in times of unexpected circumstances and disasters.

ATO Lodgement Dates

These dates are from the ATO website and do not take into account possible extensions. If you are a My Bookkeeping Buddy Client you may be entitled to an extension. You remain responsible for ensuring that the necessary information is with us in time.

Final dates for lodgements and payments:

BAS/IAS Monthly Lodgements
May 2022 Activity Statement: 21 June 2022
June 2022 Activity Statement: 21 July 2022

BAS Quarterly Lodgements
4th /June Quarter 2022 (incl. PAYGI): 28 July 2022
When a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or Public Holiday (a day that is a public holiday for the whole of any state or territory in Australia), you can lodge or pay on the next business day.

Superannuation Guarantee contributions:
4th/ June Quarter 2022: 28 July 2022
(Contributions must be in the fund by this date. Late payments of superannuation are not tax deductible. If your business has overdue superannuation guarantee payments and you are unsure of how to proceed, please contact us to discuss.)

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