Business industry codes 2005

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This information may not apply to the current year. Check the content carefully to ensure it is applicable to your circumstances.

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The Business industry codes 2005 booklet (NAT 1827-6.2005) for the 2005 year is available in Portable Document Format (PDF).

Download PDF Business industry codes 2005 [1,019kB]

This is a web based booklet only.

Introduction

An accurate description of a taxpayer's main business activity and 5-digit code must be shown at the correct items on the Individual tax return 2005, Partnership tax return 2005, Trust tax return 2005 and the Company tax return 2005. The Tax Office has based the codes on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industry Classification (ANZSIC) range as provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The industry description and Tax Office ANZSIC code should relate to the activity from which the business derives the greatest gross income or incurred the smallest loss.

The Business industry codes 2005 is divided into two lists – the first is alphabetic, the second is numeric. Select the most appropriate code to enter on the tax return. Do this by searching under keywords that describe the taxpayer's main business activity.

For example:

• abalone fishing – search under the keyword ‘abalone’ to find code 04191
• black coal mining – search under the keyword ‘coal’ to find code 11010
• house painting – search under the keyword ‘painting’ to find ‘Painting of buildings or other structures’ code 42440.

Once you have identified the most appropriate code from the list, enter it at the correct item and corresponding label of the tax return. Show all numbers in the code, including any leading zeros.

If a code cannot be selected using the alphabetic list, your second option is to use the numeric list. Here you need to search for the main business activity of the taxpayer under relevant broad business category headings.

For example, if the taxpayer's main business activity is trawling for tuna, you would search under headings related to this type of business. In this case, the best heading would be Marine fishing.

In the Marine fishing group an appropriate entry, ‘Trawling for finfish’ code 04130, can be found. This code should then be entered at the correct item and corresponding label of the tax return.

Only use codes from Business industry codes 2005, and take care to describe and code business activity as accurately as possible. An incorrect code may result in clients not receiving necessary service or material from the Tax Office, or could lead to incorrect targeting of compliance activities.

In addition, the Tax Office provides the ABS with aggregated client records for the preparation of national accounts and related economic surveys. Industry codes are an important part of the information the Tax Office gives to the ABS.