Attendance
Members were advised of changes to ATO representatives for the meeting.
TPSG external member apologies:
- Ani Tuna, BlueRock Accounting
- Michael Croker, Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand
- Neville Birthisel, Institute of Financial Professionals Australia
- Steve Inglis, Findex.
Welcome / action items
Members were welcomed and thanked for coming together to provide valuable insights and information for Tax Time 2023.
No action items to review.
ATO updates
Updates were provided from:
- ATO Systems and Digital services, no issues noticed or reported across the various channels.
- Service Delivery
- lodgments received were slightly down compared to the same time last year
- average wait times for agent calls is about 5 minutes
- following a query from the 25 July meeting, confirmed that there have not been changes to the Proof of Record Ownership scripting.
- Marketing and Communication, the tax time focus for this week through our communications and media activities includes
- launch of the super guarantee educational video series, to help employers get their super obligations right
- a new video in our Online services for agents user guide, on how to view your client’s digital correspondenceExternal Link in communication history. This is part of our range of videos showing key activities in Online services for agents
- the latest tax time video for tax professionals focuses on the Tax time toolkitsExternal Link. Assistant Commissioner, Tim Loh, steps through our range of toolkits, factsheets, and posters, all updated for the current year. It’s an excellent way to start the conversation with individual and small business clients about what they can claim
- the Tax professionals newsletter features articles on: calculating fuel tax credit rates; the rules around GST and property settlement to make sure withholdings are correct; and promotion of the capital gains tax fact sheet which can help agents guide conversations with clients who are thinking about selling shares etc.
- Small Business
- provided an update on Small Business boost measure
- indexation of fuel tax credit rates has increased from 1 August. Industry associations should refer to ATO bulletin boards and update details listed on ato.gov.au
- both fuel and alcohol excise duty rates increased from 1 August and affected clients had been issued reminders to apply the correct rate to products delivered before and from 1 August. Clients were encouraged to review the rates as outlined on ato.gov.au.
Member discussed
Feedback relating to issues with Online services for agents was quieter across networks this week.
A small number of instances where BAS agents were unable to access Super Guarantee Charge information – members were encouraged to send examples to the secretariat for review.
Whether all agents should have received a full listing of their clients with debts previously placed on hold. Members were advised the campaign is being progressed in stages so agents would not necessarily have a full listing yet of all clients who may ultimately be impacted by the offsetting.
The opportunity for further communications to help clarify and support practitioners in relation to the Small Business Boost measure – for example: to clarify that both mobile phone hardware and bundled internet costs can be claimed if they're linked to business operations.
Member issues and insights
No new issues or insights were reported by members for the week.
No other business was raised.
Useful links and resources
- Tax Time 2023
- Overview of the key changes
- Support for your practice
- Tax practitioner assistance (TPA)
- TPSG – tax time updates
- ATO corporate plan 2023–24
- Open forums