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Tasmanian businesses can expect another round of visits from the ATO this year, with 300 small businesses in Hobart in its sights over the next couple of months.
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ATO targets ‘unfair advantage’ in Tasmanian businesses
14 October 2019
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9 minute read
As part of its ongoing efforts to tackle the black economy, the ATO will visit around 300 small businesses on the eastern shores of Hobart during October and November.
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Earlier this year, 500 businesses in and around Launceston and Smithton were subjected to ATO visits, with the agency hailing the visits as “highly successful”.
ATO assistant commissioner Peter Holt said the latest round of visits — which will take place in Lindisfarne, Geilston Bay, Rose Bay, Bellerive, Howrah, Montagu Bay, Rosny, Rosny Park and Warrane — is all about curbing unfair competition as a result of black economy activities on the eastern shore.
“Our intelligence suggests that businesses in certain industries on the eastern shore are gaining an unfair competitive advantage over their honest competitors, so businesses in these industries are more likely than others to get a visit from us,” Mr Holt said.
“We’ve also received a number of tip-offs from people in the area about some businesses getting an unfair advantage by not playing by the rules. Tip-offs have told us about businesses operating and paying wages off the books in cash, not providing invoices and not reporting all of their sales, all of which are signs of black economy activities.
“Our intelligence also suggests that some businesses may be overclaiming their expenses and may not be complying with their obligations by not paying their employees’ entitlements like super and tax contributions.”
Industries more likely to be visited by the ATO include cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services; hairdressing and beauty services; construction services; building and industrial cleaning services; and management advice and related consulting services.
The ATO will also be visiting tax practitioners of small businesses in these areas as part of an early intervention strategy. These visits will enable the ATO to better understand the drivers behind agent behaviour and provide education and support to encourage willing participation of their clients in our tax and super systems.
As part of the visits, the Tax Office will also be running information sessions on recent changes, such as Single Touch Payroll and the extension of the taxable payments reporting system to certain industries.
The mobile strike visits come as part of the $318.5 million federal budget funding boost to the ATO to implement new strategies to combat the black economy, which has been estimated to cost up to $50 billion.
The Tax Office said that it would be visiting 10,000 businesses across the country each year for the next three to four years.
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