Before 1 July 2025, you could only digitally lodge statements of distribution (SODs) for up to 160 partners in a partnership. The rest had to be lodged manually.
We’ve now updated the lodgment software so you can digitally lodge SODs for all partners.
Lodging digitally means the data will be available to you for lodgment in future years, saving you time in the long run. Digitally lodged data helps us cross-check and assure that partners are correctly reporting income in their returns. This helps us target our compliance actions more accurately and lets us readily identify partners who are doing the right thing. This is even more important given our increased focus on allocation of profits within professional firms.
When you lodge your SODs, it’s critical to make sure all the information is complete and correct. Avoid the common errors that can lead to penalties and costs by completing all required information for each partner in the SOD labels, including:
- the name of each individual or entity
- tax file numbers
- residential or business addresses
- date of birth for individuals
- Australian business numbers for other entities (if they have one).
Remember that the SOD labels are part of the partnership return in which you make accountable statements to the ATO. To steer clear of unintended or adverse consequences, always be 100% certain of the data you input.