The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has warned that it is using superannuation as a cross-reference to ensure that Australian businesses are meeting all their obligations.
Second Commissioner for Taxation, Jenny Granger has told a conference in Victoria that the ATO is stepping up its focus on businesses that have been persistently and deliberately failing to meet lodgement obligations and that superannuation will form a part of that process.
She cited as an example, businesses which lodged activity statements or made superannuation contributions but did not lodge income tax returns.
“We will use data matching to identify and pursue lodgement obligations,” Granger said. “Our data sources include annual investment income reports, Centrelink, ASIC [the Australian Securities and Investments Commission], Offices of State Revenue, industry and professional associations, payment summaries and superannuation member contribution statements.”
