Newsletter
August 2012 Newsletter
Late lodgers lose their protection
During a recent review with our Tax Agent Liaison Officer, we were made aware of proposed changes to our lodgement program. In short, despite our excellent record, a few poor lodgers on our program dropped our status to very good.
What does that mean? Well it appears that our other clients will lose their extended lodgement dates, whenever our bad lodgers fail to lodge on time.
Unfair!...Foul!...I hear you all cry. Well we agree.
There are some clients out there who have suffered difficult years, or traumas, which makes on time lodgements for this year, or even a couple of years, difficult to meet. However, these clients call and ask us to make representations to the Tax Office on their behalf, and they aren’t the problem. It’s those clients who deliberately avoid the lodgement issue altogether, or any ATO issue for that matter, that concerns the Tax Office, and of course, us as the registered agent.
We have initiated several new programs designed to help clients be and remain on time, such as sms alerts, email reminders and follow up calls, which has come at some considerable cost on our side. Now it’s up to you.
Going forward, we have to make hard and fast rules so that all our good clients don’t get hit hard when they all do the right thing. Those clients who fail to lodge and make no representation, or fail to act on the representations made on their behalf, will be removed from our lodgement program. This means they will be targeted directly by the Tax Office, without representation, to lodge the missing returns. Penalties will be charged and remissions are unlikely, based on the client’s history and ATO policies and guidelines.
Naturally, we will reinstate them back into our lodgement program when they are ready to lodge, but we need to ensure that the many are protected from the few.
Please understand that this is an ATO initiative and all tax agents are included. We have a very good relationship and are not at risk at this stage. However, the recommendations have come straight from the ATO on this one. Therefore, please do not dawdle when preparing your tax records to submit to us for return preparation and lodgement.
Thank you all for your understanding and support in keeping us as one of the best lodging agents in Australia.