Latest news with #TaxOffice
AU Financial Review
2 days ago
- Business
- AU Financial Review
ATO cuts tax penalty waiver approval rate from 90pc to 70pc
The Tax Office has revealed that it now approves about 70 per cent of taxpayer requests to have tax penalties waived, down from a COVID-era approval rate of more than 90 per cent. A spokesperson for the ATO said the agency had this year launched a review into its process for granting full or partial penalty waivers 'to ensure consistency in decision-making'. Taxation Ombudsman Ruth Owen is also reviewing the process and will report back by January 2026.
ABC News
2 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
ATO leaving tax money on the table
Rachel Mealey: The Tax Office is one of the biggest government agencies in the country and among the most secretive. But a Four Corners investigation has found the agency set up to protect our revenue is failing us badly, with more than $50 billion in taxes uncollected. Angus Grigg reports. Angus Grigg: There's one number the ATO does not like to talk about. It's called collectible debt. Karen Payne: Around the time we were looking it was about $34 billion. Angus Grigg: Karen Payne is a former Inspector General of Taxation. The figure she mentioned has now grown to almost $53 billion. That's undisputed money owed to the ATO, which it has failed to collect. Karen Payne: It's a big number and if you bring that number back into the revenue then that means hopefully less taxes that everybody else has to pay. It's in all of our interests that the debts get collected. Angus Grigg: More worrying for Karen Payne is that this number has more than doubled over six years. Karen Payne: The fact that it keeps rising is troubling. Angus Grigg: The ATO collects hundreds of billions of dollars of our taxes every year, but despite its scale is subject to little oversight. This is a long held frustration for Senator Barbara Pocock. Barbara Pocock: There's a lot that happens behind the closed door of the ATO that isn't open to scrutiny for us as average citizens and taxpayers. Angus Grigg: The ATO tells us it's doing a stellar job, even as the scandals mount and evolve. Two years ago the ATO reported $2 billion was stolen in a GST scam that became known as the TikTok fraud. News report: The ATO is blaming influencers on TikTok for promoting the scam. Angus Grigg: New details uncovered by Four Corners show the ATO was warned its fraud detection systems were badly lacking. Ali Noroozi is a former Inspector General of Taxation. Ali Noroozi: There have certainly been on notice that their risk assessment tools could do better. Angus Grigg: Not only did the ATO fail to heed this warning, just two months before the GST scam blew up in mid-2021, it downgraded the fraud risk from severe to low. Ali Noroozi: So given any kind of fraud really, you need to take it seriously. You need to act on those early warning signs. Angus Grigg: Of the $2 billion stolen in the TikTok scam, just 8%, or $160 million, has been recovered. And of the 57,000 people who took advantage of it, just 122 have been convicted. The ATO says GST fraud is not widespread and the majority of businesses are doing the right thing. Karen Payne says we should all care about tax administration because it funds essential services. Karen Payne: That allows the government to fund the services that we all benefit from. So health, defence, security, infrastructure. So it's a pretty key part of our democracy. Rachel Mealey: The former Inspector General of Taxation, Karen Payne, ending Angus Grigg's report. And you can catch Four Corners tonight at 8.30 on ABC1.
Local Spain
21-07-2025
- Business
- Local Spain
Can a joint bank account help you avoid paying gift tax in Spain?
The most typical family members that give financial gifts is of course parents giving money to their adult children. This could be elderly parents helping their kids out with savings or special purchases. One of the ways that some people choose to do to get around this open a joint bank account with one or more of your children so that you can share your money with them. Previously this could have been interpreted as parents sneakily trying to gift their kids money, without it being reported as a gift and paying tax on it. It could be seen as the children automatically owning 50 percent of whatever you deposited. The Treasury has now clarified, however, that including a child as a joint owner of a bank account does not necessarily imply an automatic gift donation and there is a difference between holding a bank account and owning money. The new resolution from the General Directorate of Taxes which came out in April 2025 is based on various Supreme Court rulings which establish that the fact that a person is a co-holder of a bank account does not mean that the money they have access to is theirs. It means they simply have permission to access and can undertake operations. "Joint ownership simply implies the availability of funds by either owner, without determining the existence of joint ownership, much less equal shares, of said balance," the resolution states. This means the Tax Office does not automatically assume that 50 percent of the deposited funds belong to the joint owners. Instead, each joint owner only owns the percentage of money they have contributed. The Tax Office recognises joint ownership as an "agreement with the financial institution" that does not affect the ownership of the money, and allows for the free use of the funds in that account within the limits of that financial agreement. This means that, as far as the bank is concerned, both holders can use the funds without considering the percentage contributed by each party. Be aware though, if it is a true gift, you should still declare it as so and it's likely you will still have to pay gift tax on it. Keep in mind, this only applies while both parties are still alive. If for example, an elderly parent has a joint back account with their adult son or daughter and then dies, Article 1.138 of the Civil Code apply, states that the portion corresponding to the deceased then becomes property of their heirs. This means that the surviving holder cannot prove a higher percentage of ownership, 50 percent of the deposit would become part of the inheritance and its ownership would pass to the heirs. In this case then they would have to pay inheritance tax on it.
Sydney Morning Herald
09-07-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Do you really need an accountant to do your tax return?
Real Money, a free weekly newsletter giving expert tips on how to save, invest and make the most of your money, is sent every Sunday. You're reading an excerpt − sign up to get the whole newsletter in your inbox. If no one has done so yet, let me be the first to wish you a happy end of financial year, a day I'm sure you've been counting down to on your calendar, staring wistfully out the window as you awaited its arrival. Well, wistfully stare no more, as we are officially in the 2026 fiscal year, and as the saying goes, it's tax return time baby! If you don't think about all the tax you've paid for the past 12 months, getting your tax return is basically like free money (unless you end up owing tax, in which case, I have no silver lining for you). Plus, with the awful weather in Sydney and Melbourne at present, what better time to curl up on the couch and start tallying up your deductions? You could even invite a friend! What's the problem? I am embarrassingly eager to do my return (if that's not obvious), but not everyone is so crazy about the idea. Data from the ATO shows about two thirds of Australians pay a tax agent to handle their affairs, while the remaining third of us do it ourselves. If that sounds like a lot, that's because it is − Australia has one of the highest rates of tax agent use in the OECD. Loading The Tax Office doesn't break down that data by age, but I'd bet that most people employing tax agents would be on the older side, while younger workers are more likely to do it themselves. There are a few reasons for this, one of the biggest being that the online tax lodgment service, MyTax, has only been around for a decade or so, and its e-Tax predecessor was by all accounts a complete nightmare.
The Advertiser
29-06-2025
- Business
- The Advertiser
What's changing for parents, workers and students on July 1
It's almost a new financial year, which means a raft of changes to your pay, superannuation and government benefits are coming. Here are some of the changes you can expect from July 1. The government will begin paying superannuation on top of Commonwealth-funded paid parental leave. Parents with babies born or adopted on or after July 1, 2025,n will receive the superannuation guarantee, which is 12 per cent of the parental leave pay, into their nominated super fund. It will be paid as a lump sum superannuation contribution, including an interest component, at the end of each financial year that the parental leave was taken. The Tax Office will make the first payments from July 2026. The government will also increase the length of paid parental leave to 24 weeks from July 1. Three of those weeks are dedicated to the second partner and the rest are for the primary carer. The Commonwealth super guarantee will rise from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent on July 1. This is the final rise as part of the government's plan to incrementally increase the super rate from 9 per cent, since it was legislated in 2012. The national minimum wage is also set for a boost, rising 3.5 per cent from July 1. It will take the new minimum wage to $24.95 per hour, or $948 per week. The increase will apply to a person's first full pay period starting on or after July 1. Eligible students completing mandatory placement as part of a nursing, midwifery, teaching or social work degree will be able to access $331.65 per week from July 1. The payment, announced in the 2024-25 federal budget, will help students manage living costs while on placement. The government will also begin offering incentive payments to apprentices working in housing construction, in a bid to help alleviate workforce shortages. Eligible apprentices will receive $10,000 during the course of their apprenticeship. This will be split into $2000 payments at six, 12, 24, 36 months and at the completion of the apprenticeship. Households, businesses and community organisations will be able to save about 30 per cent on the cost of installing a home battery. The upfront discount will help eligible households with the cost of installing small battery storage systems that connect to new or existing solar PV systems. Some Centrelink payments will also rise on July 1 by 2.4 per cent, in line with inflation. Under Family Tax Benefit Part A, the maximum payment for children aged under 13 will increase to $227.36 a fortnight, or $295.82 a fortnight for children aged 13 or over. The maximum rate of Family Tax Benefit Part B will increase to $193.34, or $134.96 a fortnight for families with a youngest child aged five or over. It's almost a new financial year, which means a raft of changes to your pay, superannuation and government benefits are coming. Here are some of the changes you can expect from July 1. The government will begin paying superannuation on top of Commonwealth-funded paid parental leave. Parents with babies born or adopted on or after July 1, 2025,n will receive the superannuation guarantee, which is 12 per cent of the parental leave pay, into their nominated super fund. It will be paid as a lump sum superannuation contribution, including an interest component, at the end of each financial year that the parental leave was taken. The Tax Office will make the first payments from July 2026. The government will also increase the length of paid parental leave to 24 weeks from July 1. Three of those weeks are dedicated to the second partner and the rest are for the primary carer. The Commonwealth super guarantee will rise from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent on July 1. This is the final rise as part of the government's plan to incrementally increase the super rate from 9 per cent, since it was legislated in 2012. The national minimum wage is also set for a boost, rising 3.5 per cent from July 1. It will take the new minimum wage to $24.95 per hour, or $948 per week. The increase will apply to a person's first full pay period starting on or after July 1. Eligible students completing mandatory placement as part of a nursing, midwifery, teaching or social work degree will be able to access $331.65 per week from July 1. The payment, announced in the 2024-25 federal budget, will help students manage living costs while on placement. The government will also begin offering incentive payments to apprentices working in housing construction, in a bid to help alleviate workforce shortages. Eligible apprentices will receive $10,000 during the course of their apprenticeship. This will be split into $2000 payments at six, 12, 24, 36 months and at the completion of the apprenticeship. Households, businesses and community organisations will be able to save about 30 per cent on the cost of installing a home battery. The upfront discount will help eligible households with the cost of installing small battery storage systems that connect to new or existing solar PV systems. Some Centrelink payments will also rise on July 1 by 2.4 per cent, in line with inflation. Under Family Tax Benefit Part A, the maximum payment for children aged under 13 will increase to $227.36 a fortnight, or $295.82 a fortnight for children aged 13 or over. The maximum rate of Family Tax Benefit Part B will increase to $193.34, or $134.96 a fortnight for families with a youngest child aged five or over. It's almost a new financial year, which means a raft of changes to your pay, superannuation and government benefits are coming. Here are some of the changes you can expect from July 1. The government will begin paying superannuation on top of Commonwealth-funded paid parental leave. Parents with babies born or adopted on or after July 1, 2025,n will receive the superannuation guarantee, which is 12 per cent of the parental leave pay, into their nominated super fund. It will be paid as a lump sum superannuation contribution, including an interest component, at the end of each financial year that the parental leave was taken. The Tax Office will make the first payments from July 2026. The government will also increase the length of paid parental leave to 24 weeks from July 1. Three of those weeks are dedicated to the second partner and the rest are for the primary carer. The Commonwealth super guarantee will rise from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent on July 1. This is the final rise as part of the government's plan to incrementally increase the super rate from 9 per cent, since it was legislated in 2012. The national minimum wage is also set for a boost, rising 3.5 per cent from July 1. It will take the new minimum wage to $24.95 per hour, or $948 per week. The increase will apply to a person's first full pay period starting on or after July 1. Eligible students completing mandatory placement as part of a nursing, midwifery, teaching or social work degree will be able to access $331.65 per week from July 1. The payment, announced in the 2024-25 federal budget, will help students manage living costs while on placement. The government will also begin offering incentive payments to apprentices working in housing construction, in a bid to help alleviate workforce shortages. Eligible apprentices will receive $10,000 during the course of their apprenticeship. This will be split into $2000 payments at six, 12, 24, 36 months and at the completion of the apprenticeship. Households, businesses and community organisations will be able to save about 30 per cent on the cost of installing a home battery. The upfront discount will help eligible households with the cost of installing small battery storage systems that connect to new or existing solar PV systems. Some Centrelink payments will also rise on July 1 by 2.4 per cent, in line with inflation. Under Family Tax Benefit Part A, the maximum payment for children aged under 13 will increase to $227.36 a fortnight, or $295.82 a fortnight for children aged 13 or over. The maximum rate of Family Tax Benefit Part B will increase to $193.34, or $134.96 a fortnight for families with a youngest child aged five or over. It's almost a new financial year, which means a raft of changes to your pay, superannuation and government benefits are coming. Here are some of the changes you can expect from July 1. The government will begin paying superannuation on top of Commonwealth-funded paid parental leave. Parents with babies born or adopted on or after July 1, 2025,n will receive the superannuation guarantee, which is 12 per cent of the parental leave pay, into their nominated super fund. It will be paid as a lump sum superannuation contribution, including an interest component, at the end of each financial year that the parental leave was taken. The Tax Office will make the first payments from July 2026. The government will also increase the length of paid parental leave to 24 weeks from July 1. Three of those weeks are dedicated to the second partner and the rest are for the primary carer. The Commonwealth super guarantee will rise from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent on July 1. This is the final rise as part of the government's plan to incrementally increase the super rate from 9 per cent, since it was legislated in 2012. The national minimum wage is also set for a boost, rising 3.5 per cent from July 1. It will take the new minimum wage to $24.95 per hour, or $948 per week. The increase will apply to a person's first full pay period starting on or after July 1. Eligible students completing mandatory placement as part of a nursing, midwifery, teaching or social work degree will be able to access $331.65 per week from July 1. The payment, announced in the 2024-25 federal budget, will help students manage living costs while on placement. The government will also begin offering incentive payments to apprentices working in housing construction, in a bid to help alleviate workforce shortages. Eligible apprentices will receive $10,000 during the course of their apprenticeship. This will be split into $2000 payments at six, 12, 24, 36 months and at the completion of the apprenticeship. Households, businesses and community organisations will be able to save about 30 per cent on the cost of installing a home battery. The upfront discount will help eligible households with the cost of installing small battery storage systems that connect to new or existing solar PV systems. Some Centrelink payments will also rise on July 1 by 2.4 per cent, in line with inflation. Under Family Tax Benefit Part A, the maximum payment for children aged under 13 will increase to $227.36 a fortnight, or $295.82 a fortnight for children aged 13 or over. The maximum rate of Family Tax Benefit Part B will increase to $193.34, or $134.96 a fortnight for families with a youngest child aged five or over.
