Tax Office Assistance for Small Businesses
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The ATO has announced yesterday 10 June 2009, that no interest (GIC) will be charged for 12 months on outstanding tax office debts for small business enterprises (turnover less than $2 million).
How it works:
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A payment arrangement is requested for the current account balance
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If all payments are made on time; and
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all future activity statements
and tax returns are lodged and paid by the due date then the interest charged on the accounts when repaid in full will be remitted (deleted) automatically.
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If your tax payments are in order and you are a small business enterprises then you will be eligible to apply for an extension up to two months to pay on activity statements lodged on time with no questions asked and no interest payable.
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If you are not a small business ie annual turnover exceeds $2 million then you will probably get similar time payment concessions but you have to apply quoting reasons why unable to pay tax balances by the due date and also seek remission of GIC by letter after the tax debt is fully repaid.
The above announcement indicate the ATO approach
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Concessions are given provided activity statements are lodged by the due date. This is critical.
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The ATO looks favourably upon payment arrangements for current debt provided payments as agreed are met by the due dates and subsequent debts from lodged activity statements and returns paid by the due date.
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The ATO will remit 12 months of interest charges where the taxpayer is genuinely trying to pay their ATO debts as arranged.
If you wish assistance with ATO debt matters please contact your client service manager at Macquarie Partners. We wish to emphasize tax debts should still be paid as due unless current business conditions require the above assistance measures.
The material and contents provided in this publication are informative in nature only. It is not intended to be advice and you should not act specifically on the basis of this information alone. If expert assistance is required, professional advice should be obtained.
