ATO

Entities carrying on an enterprise in Australia must have an ABN to operate (or face PAYG withholding at 47%).

Employer must not misrepresent employment as contractor relationship.

Super fund trustees owe statutory covenants of care, skill, diligence, best financial interests, and prudent investment.

Self-managed super funds must be audited by an ASIC-registered auditor each year.

GST-registered entities must lodge a BAS monthly, quarterly or annually as the ATO assigns.

SMSFs must be maintained for the sole purpose of providing retirement benefits.

Discretionary trust trustees must validly resolve to distribute trust income before the end of the FY.

PAFs must distribute minimum 5% of net assets annually + comply with PAF Guidelines.

Directors personally liable for unpaid company PAYG, GST + SG via DPN regime.

From 1 July 2026, super must reach the employee's fund within 7 calendar days of each payday.

Employers must withhold tax from wages, certain contractor payments + report via STP / BAS.

Companies, trusts and partnerships need a TFN to file tax returns and claim TFN exemptions.

Companies must retain financial + business records for 7 years.

Government-funded PPL expands to 26 weeks by 1 July 2026, with super on PPL from same date.

AU adopts the OECD CARF for crypto reporting from 2026; ATO reporting starts 2027.

ACNC-registered DGRs must complete annual self-review.

Employers who provided fringe benefits in the FBT year (1 April – 31 March) must lodge by 21 May.

Multinationals with global income >EUR 750M must lodge CbC Report annually.

Deductible Gift Recipients must continue to meet category-specific requirements and report use of donations.

Multinational groups must keep contemporaneous transfer pricing documentation per Subdivision 815-D ITAA 1997.

40% PRRT on offshore + onshore (Bass Strait only) petroleum project profits.

All super contributions and rollovers must use SuperStream-compliant data + payment standards.

Register within 21 days when GST turnover reaches $75K (or $150K for NFPs, or any amount for ride-share/taxis).

Companies must register R&D activities with AusIndustry within 10 months of the end of the income year.

Disaggregated payroll reporting to the ATO via STP-enabled software.

Limits debt deductions for thinly-capitalised entities, reformed from 1 July 2023.

WET at 29% on wine wholesale value; rebate scheme up to $350K per producer.

Eligible business activities can claim back fuel tax via FTC system.

Eligible MITs benefit from 15% withholding rate on non-resident distributions if elected + compliant.

Commonwealth agencies must accept Peppol e-invoices; private sector encouraged.

Eligible zero/low-emission cars FBT-exempt under car limits (until 2025 for PHEVs).

SBE asset write-off threshold reset annually; $20,000 for FY25-26.

LCT at 33% on the GST-inclusive value of luxury cars above LCT threshold.

Eligible electric vehicles under the LCT threshold provided to employees are FBT-exempt.

ATO transition + enforcement focus on STP Phase 2 — payroll detail richer + integrated with Services Australia data sharing.

ATO LB+I program continued in 2025 across pillar one + two, GST, FBT, TP + Withholding Tax. JIT + JMT activities + Top 1000 reviews ongoing.

ATO continued program of large-multinational tax compliance audits; multiple settlements + adjustments running into hundreds of millions.

ATO renewed focus on cash economy + omitted income detection — hospitality, building, hair + beauty, cleaning.

ATO + AusIndustry continued integrity program identifying ineligible R&D claims.

ATO referrals + investigations following confidential Treasury information leaks to PwC personnel + clients. Multiple Senate hearings + TPB de-registrations.

ATO continued JobKeeper integrity program — recovering payments from ineligible recipients + prosecuting fraud.

ATO recovered over $1B in SGC and admin uplift across 2023-24 from large employers identified via STP data-matching.

Operation Protego prosecuted 100+ individuals for GST fraud involving fake businesses claiming fake refunds via the BAS system, totalling over $4.6 billion in identified claims.

Underpayment of superannuation guarantee to certain Vodafone employees following an ATO review.