On 2 November 2018, the Deputy Commissioner of Small Business, Deborah Jenkins, delivered a keynote address at a conference run by a national accounting body outlining the main tax issues the ATO is seeing in small businesses. These are:
  • claiming private expenses through the business;
  • how to attribute business and private use to an asset;
  • how tax applies to different tax structures used for small business that may be complex and varied;
  • not always including all taxable income.
Other easily avoidable errors were also identified. Other areas of focus include:
  • cracking down on the ‘Black Economy’;
  • assisting small businesses to manage their cash flow and tax debt; and
  • Single Touch Payroll (STP).
Click here to read the Deputy Commissioner’s speech in detail.