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Keep on top of your business tax obligations

We will map what your business owes, to whom, and when, so nothing falls due unnoticed.

A growing business collects tax obligations faster than it collects the systems to manage them. Pay as you go withholding arrives with the first employee. GST arrives at the registration threshold. Fringe benefits tax arrives with the first car, payroll tax when the wage bill crosses a state threshold, and superannuation guarantee from the beginning. Each has a different due date, in some cases a different regulator, and a different consequence for being late.

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Obligations you did not know applied

Payroll tax thresholds and fringe benefits often arrive with growth and go unnoticed for years.

Superannuation treated as the priority it is

Late superannuation costs the deduction and can become a personal liability for directors.

Disclosure on your terms

Telling the ATO before it asks materially reduces the penalties and keeps the matter in your hands.

What are a business's ongoing tax obligations?

A business’s tax obligations are a set of separate regimes that happen to apply to the same entity. Income tax is assessed annually. GST and pay as you go withholding are reported through activity statements during the year. Fringe benefits tax runs on its own year ending in March. Payroll tax is a state tax with its own thresholds and grouping rules. Superannuation guarantee runs on a quarterly cycle with very little tolerance for lateness.

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What happens if superannuation is paid a few days late?

More than most employers expect. Late payment means the contribution is no longer deductible, and a charge is imposed calculated on total salary and wages rather than on the shortfall. The amount can also be recovered from directors personally. Lateness matters far more here than in most other regimes.

Do we have to pay payroll tax?

It depends on your total wages and on which states you employ in. Each state sets its own threshold and rate. Grouping rules combine related businesses, so a group can exceed a threshold that no individual entity reaches. State revenue offices assess it rather than the ATO.

Our contractors invoice us, so they are not employees, are they?

Invoicing does not settle it. The tests look at the substance of the arrangement rather than its label, and they differ slightly between withholding, superannuation and payroll tax. A contractor can fall outside employment for one and inside it for another.

We have missed something. Is it better to wait and see?

Almost never. A voluntary disclosure made before any review begins attracts substantially lower penalties, and keeps you in control of how the position is explained. Waiting increases the interest and removes the option.

Find out what you are actually liable for

Tell us what the business does, where it operates and who it employs. We will map every obligation that applies and when each falls due.

The obligation you did not know about is still yours

Your business meets the obligations it knows about. The difficulty is the ones that arrived quietly as the business grew. A payroll tax threshold crossed by hiring in another state. A fringe benefit provided without anybody characterising it as one. Superannuation paid a few days late each quarter, which is a different problem from paying it late once.

We will establish which tax regimes apply to the business as it operates now.
We will map every obligation to a due date and a person responsible for it.
We will check your payroll tax position in each state, including the grouping rules.
We will test whether your contractors are correctly characterised for tax purposes.
We will advise on disclosing anything that has been missed before the ATO finds it.

The business has grown and nobody has re-checked what it owes

The business is doing well. There are more staff than there were, perhaps in more than one state, and the range of what the business does has widened. The compliance routine has not changed in years, because it has always worked. What nobody has done is go back and ask which obligations now apply that did not apply when the routine was set up.

What's included in your business tax compliance review

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A review of which tax regimes apply to the business today.
A dated obligation map covering income tax, GST and withholding.
Fringe benefits tax and superannuation guarantee review.
Payroll tax assessment for each state, including grouping.
Contractor characterisation testing.
Voluntary disclosure advice for anything already missed.

Why the small ones become the expensive ones

Businesses rarely get into trouble over the obligation they were thinking about. They get into trouble over the one nobody had identified.

Superannuation guarantee is the clearest case. Paying late is not a minor breach. The deduction for the contribution is lost. A charge is imposed on the full salary and wages rather than on the shortfall, and it becomes recoverable from directors personally. A business can pay its people correctly and still pay a few days late each quarter. The resulting liability is out of all proportion to what was missed.

Payroll tax works differently and catches people just as often. It is a state tax with grouping rules that combine related businesses, so a group can cross a threshold no single entity does. Because a state revenue office assesses it rather than the ATO, it often sits outside whatever monitoring the business already has.

From a routine that has always worked to one that matches the business

We start by establishing what the business actually does now, where it operates and who it engages. That is what determines which regimes apply, and it is usually broader than the routine assumes.

Then we map each obligation against a date and an owner. Income tax, activity statements, fringe benefits tax, payroll tax in each relevant state, and superannuation guarantee each get their own line. Where something has been missed, we advise on disclosing it voluntarily, which materially reduces the penalties. Where a worker has been engaged as a contractor, we test that characterisation. Getting it wrong affects withholding, superannuation and payroll tax at once.

How we get your obligations under control

Establish what applies, then give every obligation a date and an owner.

Establish what applies

We work out which regimes the business is actually caught by, based on what it does and where.

Date every obligation

We map each obligation to a due date and a responsible person, including the state ones.

Deal with the gaps

We advise on disclosing anything missed, and correct any contractor characterisation that will not hold.

Every regime that applies to you, mapped and dated

Nobody starts a business to administer six tax regimes. The compliance load grows without any single moment where it becomes obviously too much.

One of our lawyers is a Chartered Tax Advisor with The Tax Institute and has held that credential for 25 years. We are also recognised in Doyle’s Guide for tax law. We advise businesses on income tax, GST, fringe benefits tax, payroll tax and superannuation guarantee obligations, and on disclosing what has been missed. Where an obligation has gone unmet, telling the ATO before it asks is almost always cheaper, and we will say so plainly.

Our great lawyer guarantee

Six principles we hold to, whatever you bring us and however long it takes.

Take the time

We listen carefully to understand what you want to achieve, then step you through the advice and the documents.

Share our knowledge

We pass on as much as we can, so you can make your own informed decisions.

Stick to our knitting

We only do what we are good at, so you never pay for our learning.

Work as one team

Someone is always available to answer your question or point you the right way.

Fair pricing

A fixed or capped quote for advice and documents, so you do not carry the price risk.

It is your show

We are in it for a front row seat to witness your success, not for our egos.

Get on top of what the business owes

Tell us what the business does, where it operates and who it engages. We will map every tax obligation that applies, with a due date against each one.

Speak to a lawyer 1300 654 590