Newsletter
September 2012 Newsletter
The ATO gets smarter and small business gets poorer!
The Commissioner of Taxation, Michael D’Ascenzo, recently said that approximately 90% of small businesses in benchmarked industries fall within a benchmark ratio. However, he said around 76,000 businesses have reported income that is significantly below those benchmarks. To address this issue, Mr D’Ascenzo said the ATO wrote to around 30,000 small businesses regarding the benchmarks in 2010–2011. He said around 17% (or over 5,000) of the businesses have since started reporting income commensurate with the benchmarks, thereby lowering their risk profile with the ATO.
TIP: According to the ATO, the benchmarks may also prompt taxpayers to consider whether they have forgotten to claim any relevant deductions if they report significantly more net income than their industry peers. Please contact our office if you have further questions.
TIP: There are currently benchmarks covering over 100 industries including: accommodation and food services; building and construction trade services; education, training, recreation and support services; health care and personal services; manufacturing; professional, scientific and technical services; retail trade; and transport, postal and warehousing.