Small businesses have come under fire for late and non-tax payments by the Australian Tax Office (ATO). During an address by the ATO deputy commissioner Vivek Chaudhary, he noted that payment culture, once prompt and successful, has swayed since the pandemic with many small businesses accumulating tax debts.
The ATO will return to business-as-usual when collecting overdue debt to reset expectations of cancelling or lowering penalties.
The ATO will focus on five areas:
* Unpaid superannuation payments
* Debt arising from ATO audit adjustments
* Refund fraud
* Aged, high-value debt
* Employers with new self-assessed debts
For small businesses having tax trouble, the small businesses restructuring (SBR) programme may be an option. This allows financially distressed but commercially viable businesses the opportunity to restructure their debts while continuing to trade.
Chaudhary emphasised that businesses unable to meet their tax obligations must contact their tax practitioner or the ATO early, before the due date.
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