Rose Di Stefano from the Small and Medium Enterprises business line joined for this item.
Rose provided the background of the Small Business External Working Group. If members are interested their nomination would be appreciated. The Tax Office is reviewing its income tax compliance approach for the $2-10 million market. The objective is to encourage voluntary compliance through the following focus areas:
The intention is to engage a wide network of stakeholders including ACWG members, ATO Tax Practitioner Forum (ATPF) Small to Medium Enterprises (SME) Working Group, the Small Business Advisory Group and perhaps the Tax Practitioner Regional Working Groups to test our products. There are two levels of consultation - one is to be part of the core design working group, the second level would mean being involved in a broader consultative group via email and some teleconferencing. The aim is to pilot strategies in the New Year. Members would have input into various aspects including letters.
Rose thanked the members who have already expressed an interest in participating and advised that a teleconference meeting would be held in the following week to progress the consultation process.
Discussion
Letters
The Chair sought to assure members that the Tax Office is trying to reduce the size of letters sent to taxpayers and to make them more concise.
Trust and Distribution campaign
Members commented that the Trust and Distribution campaign caused some angst for practitioners and may not have been best targeted with most outcomes being mismatched labels rather than omitted income. Practitioners felt the process left them hanging with no clear indication of what would happen next when they contacted the Tax Office and provided information that they considered all amounts had been reported. A member had approximately 12 cases targeted, however all were found to be correct or the shortfall amount was approximately $1. Bernice advised that a presentation had been given to the ATPF on concerns raised regarding this project. She will locate the ATPF presentation on this project and send to members if possible. Other issues with this project included rounding not factored in:
- the fax number provided to make a voluntary disclosure was a general enquiry number which entailed long waiting times, and
- it was not clear whether it was necessary to contact the Tax Office if the records were found to be correct.
The members felt that the communication aspects had not been well handled.
Foreign Sourced Income review
Members felt that for the Foreign Sourced Income reviews, communication from the Tax Office regarding the outcomes and any further review were not clear. Further that there was no acknowledgement where records were found to be 100% correct.
Tax Agent's Service Bill
The Tax Agent's Service Bill (TASB) has been introduced to Parliament. It includes safe harbours from penalties for taxpayers in certain circumstances. Further discussion is expected when the Explanatory Memoranda is released. The Bill may have an impact on the way tax agents operate.
Approved form for voluntary disclosures
The final version is still under development.
Amendments by tax agents
A form is now available on www.ato.gov.au for tax agents to amend income tax returns without the taxpayer signature. It can be used in limited circumstances. Members were unaware it had been published. Members suggested that Tax Office broadcast or eLink are good channels for communicating changes such as these to tax agents. The NAT number for the form is 71837. A member suggested that being able to amend individual returns via the portal would be used. Bernice to follow-up.
Payment advice slips
Members provided positive feedback on the payment advice slips now available, recognising that these could not be accessed until a return has been lodged. The Lodgment Working Party is considering this issue.
Voluntary disclosure website
The focus of the website is moving to 'correcting mistakes'; whether they are credit or debit. The penalty and interest consequences will also be included. The material will be provided from a taxpayer perspective and will be expressed in a reader friendly version in one place.
Action item
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201108/5.1
Follow up issues regarding the Trusts and Distributions campaign and provide feedback to members. Send copy of ATPF presentation re the campaign to members, if possible.
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Responsibility
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Bernice Horton
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Due date
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As soon as possible
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Action item
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201108/5.2
Follow up on the foreign sourced income letter received by one of the members and to be sent to Bernice. Send copy of ATPF presentation re the campaign to members, if possible.
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Responsibility
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Bernice Horton
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Due date
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As soon as possible
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Action item
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201108/5.3
Raise the issue of amending individual returns via the portal.
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Responsibility
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Bernice Horton
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Due date
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As soon as possible
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Discussion
Members endorsed the updated version of the Charter which had been circulated out-of-session with changes identified for members.
Review responses received from members and further discussion at the meeting endorsed the current focus and format of the ACWG. The Chair invited members to advise whether they believe they are getting sufficient opportunity to provide input on particular focus points. The Chair undertook to contact members early in 2009 to discuss any perceived hotspots with a view to including these as focus topics for future meetings.
Action item
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201108/6.1
Chair to contact members to discuss current or emerging hotspots.
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Responsibility
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Peter Coakley
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Due date
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Before February 26
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It was noted that there will be a new person undertaking the Secretariat role in 2009 due to the retirement of the current occupant.
Next meeting is scheduled for Thursday 26 February 2009. Further details will be provided closer to the date.
Addendum: Dates for 2009 ACWG meetings are as follows:
- Thursday 26 February
- Thursday 28 May
- Thursday 22 October.
Last Modified: Friday, 7 May 2010