The main impact – those taxpayers who rely on receiving the BAS Form, to remind them of the need to lodge same, cannot rely on this any longer.
Late lodgement of BASs is usually accompanied by a $250 fine (minimum) from the ATO.
Even more critically, if the lodgement is more than 3 month’s late, then the director is personally liable, even if the company is liquidated.
It has always been important to keep your reporting up to date, and now, more than ever, you need to be organised and have your own reminders.
The new ATO process is in line with what most government departments and businesses are doing – increasing online services and reducing dependence on paper.
The planned changes (which will take effect from 1 July 2014) will mean that when an activity statement is lodged electronically, no paper statement will be issued.
The changes are not universal and some taxpayers will still receive activity statements in paper form.
Taxpayers that may be excluded from the changes include those who continuously lodge activity statements in paper form for monthly periods and electronically for quarterly periods.
Taxpayers will only be excluded from the changes for this reason if their activity statement lodgements are up to date.
The ATO has recommended that clients begin to consider electronically lodging monthly activity statements.
Further, the ATO have stated that they will be reviewing taxpayers who continue receiving paper activity statements to determine an appropriate transition period to issuing all activity statements electronically.
Irish Bentley Lawyers recommends that all clients take careful note of when their activity statements are due rather than continuing to rely on paper activity statements.
Moreover, all business clients are encouraged to register for the ATO Business Portal.
The portal allows taxpayers to view their statement of accounts and electronically lodge activity statements.
Please contact our office on (07) 3229 4060 if you require any further assistance or information in relation to the above.
The friendly team at Irish Bentley Lawyers are more than happy to assist tax clients in whatever way they can.