The Australian Taxation Office (ATO)<\/strong> has announced a new compliance initiative focusing on contractor income reporting, GST compliance, and tax deduction claims among small businesses. With more than 2.5 million small businesses<\/strong> operating across Australia, the ATO aims to ensure tax obligations are met while addressing errors and deliberate non-compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ATO regularly updates its compliance priorities<\/strong>, providing small businesses with guidance on common areas of concern. For the current period, the agency is focusing on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deputy Commissioner Will Day<\/strong> emphasized that the goal is to support small businesses in meeting their tax and superannuation obligations, while addressing cases of opportunistic or deliberate non-compliance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To strengthen compliance efforts, the ATO is implementing data-matching technology<\/strong> across various contractor industries, including building and construction, couriers, cleaning, IT, road freight, and security services. This technology will cross-check income reports against external data sources to identify inconsistencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, from April 1<\/strong>, the ATO will require 3,500 small businesses<\/a><\/strong>\u2014those with a history of non-payment, late lodgement, or incorrect reporting\u2014to switch from quarterly to monthly GST reporting<\/strong>. The agency believes this measure will encourage better business habits and improve cash flow management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond these key areas, the ATO is also continuing to monitor broader tax compliance concerns. This includes small business capital gains tax concessions, mixing business and personal income, non-commercial business losses, and GST registration and income reporting for ride-sharing, taxis, and limousines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Small businesses can find more information about the\u00a0ATO\u2019s focus areas here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n