ATO's 2013 Compliance Program
As usual, the ATO has released its annual Compliance Program, and following are some of the main 'highlights' that will attract their attention in the coming year, including:
-
High work-related expenses claims, particularly those made by:
- building and construction labourers, construction supervisors and project managers;
- sales and marketing managers;
- Wealthy individuals and people who may be using secrecy jurisdictions (i.e., tax havens) to avoid paying tax;
- Employers who intentionally try to avoid their tax and super obligations by improperly treating workers as contractors rather than employees;
- Small businesses that overclaim concessions, attempt to hide income and operate in the cash economy, and claim CGT concessions they are not entitled to;
- Businesses with outstanding returns, particularly trusts, partnerships and companies and entities with privately owned groups;
- Fraudulent phoenix activity, particularly by property developers; and
- SMSFs that misuse the concessional tax environment deliberately or unintentionally.
The ATO has also advised that they investigate every time an employee tells them that their employer has not paid their superannuation guarantee entitlement. The ATO will also specifically audit employers in the cafes and restaurants, carpentry services, and real estate services industries, due to these industries presenting a higher risk of employers not complying with their superannuation guarantee obligations.
In addition, more than 640 million transactions are reported to the ATO annually from sources such as banks, share registries, employers, merchants, states and territories and other government departments, and the ATO uses this information to detect people trying to avoid their tax and superannuation obligations.