The ATO has provided relief from lodgement compliance and payment obligations for those impacted by the bushfires. An automatic two month deferral for activity statements lodgements and payments due has been provided to those in affected postcodes. For bushfire relief from ATO obligations, please refer here for further information.
The ATO will continue to monitor the ongoing situation and make further decisions to include additional areas and/or provide further deferrals as needed.
The ATO is also reminding business owners at this time that it is critical to keep their Australian business number (ABN) information up to date, as it is:
- used by Emergency Services and other government agencies during times of natural disaster
- used by the Government to identify where financial disaster relief is needed to help businesses recover in disaster affected areas, and
- likely to be checked if they are applying for a grant or loan for their business.
Business owners can access, change or cancel their ABN details online at abr.gov.au. All changes made to their ABN online will take effect immediately.
Taxpayers can also call the ATO directly to request further assistance, such as requesting extra time to manage tax debt or lodgements, help finding lost documentation such as Tax File Numbers, reconstructing tax documentation, fast tracking refunds, interest free periods, and remittance of penalties or interest charged during the crisis.
DGL are here to help, please let us know if we can be of assistance during this difficult time.