ATO

The ATO says it is increasing its focus on rental property deductions. It says common errors made by rental property owners include: claiming rental deductions for properties not genuinely available for rent; incorrectly claiming deductions for properties only available for rent part of the year such as a holiday home; incorrectly claiming structural improvement costs…

According to the ATO, more than $14 billion in lost super is waiting to be claimed. The ATO said $8 billion in super was sitting in accounts that have not received a contribution in five years. A further $6 billion in super was sitting in accounts were funds have not been kept up-to-date with changes…

The ATO has signalled that it will pay close attention to work-related expenses claimed as deductions by individuals when they lodge their 2013-14 tax returns, as incorrect expense claims are becoming easier to detect. This year, the ATO says it will not be limiting its attention to particular occupations. Rather, it will pay particular attention…

Speaking at a recent conference, Acting Deputy Commissioner Superannuation, Alison Lendon, said the self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) sector was in good shape, but noted there was a small minority of funds and professionals that do the wrong thing. Some emerging areas of concern included: Illegal early release; fraud; not correctly reporting non-arm’s length income; not…

Treasury has released a discussion paper on the proposal to improve tax compliance through third party reporting and data-matching. The proposal is designed to improve taxpayer compliance by enhancing the information reported to the ATO by a range of third parties through the introduction of new reporting regimes. It notes that some of the elements…

Assistant Commissioner for Superannuation, Matthew Bambrick, has presented the ATO perspective on issues affecting SMSFs at the Fifth Annual Small Independent Superannuation Funds Association SMSF Forum.

The ATO and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) have announced that as part of Project Wickenby, three men have been charged with tax and money laundering offences relating to the transfer of $30 million into Australia All three men are set to appear before the Sydney Central Local Court. The ATO and the AFP said…