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What has your ABA been up to recently

Report in Edition #5 2015 Bookies Bulletin

It’s been a busy couple of months with the BAS simplification ‘fix-it squad’ and also the ramping up of the ‘Reinventing the ATO’ program.

Earlier this year the Hon. Bruce Billson MP (previous Federal Minister for Small Business) instigated a ‘fix-it squad’ to work out how the BAS process could be simplified for small business. There has been extensive consultation with Practitioners, Associations (including Australian Bookkeepers Association) and Small Business all working together on solutions to make our complex GST system a little simpler for reporting purposes. We are yet to see the final results, but as soon as they are released I will report back with what they are and how they impact us as bookkeepers and BAS Agents.

At BASAAG last month we discussed the impact of myGov and Business Activity Statements. As the September quarter BAS is the first quarter to be impacted, many of you may not be aware that if your sole trader clients have signed up to a myGov account their BASs will now be sent directly to their myGov inbox. This is obviously a huge change and impacts us particularly where we were previously getting their BASs. As an interim measure the ATO will be emailing agents advising when their linked clients’ BASs are forwarded to their myGov accounts. To ensure you get this notification it is important that you ensure your ATO client list is up to date. More information about this new system can be found here.

The ATO has also been working hard at improving the search functionality on its website. They have issued a Guide to Smarter Searching which is well worth flicking through to assist you finding information quickly and easily. I have personally found that the ATO search functionality is now better than using Google, so if you haven’t been game to use it for a while, it’s well worth trying now.

There are also lots of changes coming up to Superannuation Guarantee Charge. The 2 major changes are as of 1 July 2016:

1. The nominal interest rates will be calculated on the number of days the superannuation is unpaid (it is currently as of the 1st day of the superannuation quarter that it relates to).

2. SGC will be calculated on the narrower concept of ordinary time earnings (OTE) rather than all salary & wages. (this legislation is currently before parliament)

Full minutes of this Moonee Ponds BASAAG meeting can be found here.

Debra Anderson Legally BAS

Category
ABA
Published
25 Nov 2015
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