NAMRO Services

A new national business names registration system will commence on 28 May 2012.

Currently, business names are registered in the state or territory where the business is located and each state and territory keeps its own register. The national register of business names will replace these existing state and territory registers.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will administer the new national business names register.

Benefits of the new national register

The national register will offer Queensland businesses many advantages:

• The national system eliminates the need for businesses who trade across state borders to register their name in multiple jurisdictions.
• Businesses will be able to register and renew their national business name online. Online payment options will also be available.
• Business name registration will be combined into a single online transaction with the registration of an Australian Business Number.
• Queensland businesses will benefit from reduced registration fees (details below).  

Transistion to the new national register

The Queensland register will cease operation at 5pm on Friday 25 May.

As a business name holder in Queensland, you do not have to do anything during the transition. All existing Queensland business names will automatically transition to the national register in preparation for its commencement on Monday 28 May.

All of your business name details will transition to the national register, including your existing expiry date. So if your Queensland business name is due to expire on 1 December 2012, this is the date that ASIC will record as the expiry date of your new national business name.

Duplicate names

If you have registered the same business name in multiple jurisdictions, all of your business names will transitioned to the national business names register, meaning that you may have multiple identical business names registered to you.

Under the new system, you can choose to keep one of your business names and let the rest expire. If you prefer, you can speed up this process by cancelling any business name that you no longer require. There is no fee to cancel a business name.

If the same business name has been registered by different businesses in different jurisdictions, all of the business names will still be transitioned to the national business names register. An additional identifier (such as the word ‘Queensland’) will appear on the register to assist in differentiating between identical business names.

This additional identifier will not form part of your business name, meaning that you can continue to trade using the business name you have always had. 

Renewing your business name

If your business name is due for renewal before 28 May 2012, you should already have received your business name renewal form from the Office of Fair Trading. You will need to renew your business name in Queensland, prior to the transition to the national register. If you haven’t already done so, please ensure that you lodge your form and appropriate fee as soon as possible.

If your business name is due for renewal on or after 28 May 2012, ASIC will send you a business name renewal form and you will renew on the national register.

If your business name is due for renewal between 28 May 2012 and mid to late June 2012, you may receive your renewal notice from ASIC a bit later than you would normally expect it. If you do, you will get an extension of time in which to renew, so that you are not disadvantaged.

Fees

Once the transition to the national register is complete, fees for Queensland businesses will be cheaper. Online payment options such as BPay and credit card payment will be available. Registering an ABN will remain free.

New application for registration of a business name for 1 year – $30
Application for renewal of a business name for 1 year – $30
New application for registration of a business name for 3 years – $70
Application for renewal of a business name for 3 years – $70

Note: Fees are current as at 23 November 2011. They are subject to change at the start of each new financial year.

If your business name is due to expire before 28 May 2012, you will need to renew in Queensland and pay the current Queensland fee.

You are entitled to renew for only one year in Queensland to reduce your costs.

More information

For more information, visit the national business names register page on our website.

You can also visit ASIC’s Business names page or the Australian Business Register website.

Where’s my refund?
Updated to include the new approaches we are undertaking to manage the current volume of held income tax returns and why these returns have been held.

Goods and services tax treatment of new residential premises
The government has amended the goods and services tax law to ensure that sales by developers of residential premises constructed under certain arrangements, sometimes called development lease arrangements, will be taxable supplies of new residential premises. The law also clarifies the subdivision or strata-titling of new residential premises.

Changes to the tax law to counter phoenix activities
This new legislation will introduce measures aimed at countering phoenix activity.

Contributing to your super – what you need to know
There are caps on the amount you or your clients can contribute to super each financial year that are taxed at lower rates.

Small business concessions: removal of the entrepreneur’s tax offset from 2012-13
The entrepreneur’s tax offset has been abolished from the 2012-13 income year.

Small business concessions: changes to simpler depreciation rules apply from 2012-13
Information regarding the small business changes to depreciation rules from 2012-13.

Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo today warned the community that scammers are using increasingly sophisticated methods to trick people into giving away their money or personal details, such as their tax file number.

“Anyone can be the target of a scam,” said Mr D’Ascenzo.

“National Consumer Fraud Week from 19 to 25 March, serves as a timely reminder to the community to be aware of scams.

“If something seems suspicious, too good to be true, asks you for personal details or cannot be verified by contacting an official source, it is likely to be a scam. Scams are designed to trick you into providing either money or personal information that can be used to commit fraud or other illegal activities using your name and details.

“To catch people off guard, scammers use phone calls, letters, SMS messages, emails, bogus websites and even fake job advertisements. Last year we had about 25,000 reports of telephone and email scams using the ATO brand.”

A range of tricks are used to make scams appear authentic. For example:

• including a legitimate-sounding message at the start of a call, such as the call is being recorded ‘for training purposes’,
• sending emails that appear to have come from the ATO, which when opened or downloaded infect your computer with malicious software.

“Do not be outsmarted by these types of scams. Be alert to scam behaviour and report anything suspicious,” said Mr D’Ascenzo.

“We are emailing 1.1 million e-tax users warning them about scams as part of this year’s National Consumer Fraud Week. We also keep the community informed on the ATO website. These scams are then investigated by the ATO and other government agencies as appropriate, including the Australian Federal Police.”

To find out more about how you can protect yourself from scams, go online to www.ato.gov.au/onlinesecurity.

If you think you have been the victim of a scam, contact us immediately by calling 1800 060 062 (8.00am – 6.00pm, Monday to Friday). You can also report suspected email scams to the ATO by forwarding the email to ReportEmailFraud@ato.gov.au.

There are caps on the amount you can contribute to your super each financial year that are taxed at lower rates. If you contribute more than the caps, you may have to pay extra tax.

There are two types of contributions and the caps are different for both. We call these concessional and non-concessional contributions.

Concessional contributions are sometimes known as ‘before-tax’ contributions and generally include:

• the 9% super guarantee your employer has to contribute for you
• any extra voluntary super contributions your employer makes
• salary sacrificed amounts
• personal contributions you make and can claim as a personal super deduction in your income tax return.

The 2011-12 concessional contributions cap is $25,000 for people under 50 years old and $50,000 for people 50 years old and over.

Non-concessional contributions are sometimes known as ‘after-tax’ contributions and include:

• personal contributions you make from your after-tax income – you cannot claim a personal super deduction in your income tax return for these
• contributions your partner makes to your super fund account
• any contributions made over your concessional contributions cap.

The 2011-12 non-concessional contributions cap is $150,000 for everyone.

Super contributions caps

There are limits on the amounts that can be contributed into your superannuation each financial year before you have to pay extra tax. These limits are called super contributions caps. If more is contributed to your super than the cap amount, you may have to pay extra tax.

How much extra tax you pay once you exceed a cap depends on the type of contributions. There are two types of contributions:

• concessional
• non-concessional.

Concessional contributions

Concessional contributions are generally the before-tax contributions that you or your employer make to a super fund, for example:

• compulsory super your employer contributes for you (9% – also known as the super guarantee)
• any additional voluntary super contributions your employer makes
• salary sacrificed amounts
• any costs your employer pays such as super administration fees and insurance premiums on behalf of your fund
• personal contributions you are allowed and claim as a personal super deduction in your income tax return.

Your concessional contributions cap depends on your age and the year in which the contributions are made.

TABLE: Concessional contributions caps

Any concessional contributions made into your super fund over the concessional cap will also count towards your non-concessional contributions cap.

Non-concessional contributions

Non-concessional contributions are generally the after-tax contributions you make to a super fund – for example:

• personal contributions you make from your after-tax income which you don’t, or aren’t allowed to claim a personal super deduction for in your income tax return
• contributions your spouse makes to your super fund account
• contributions in excess of your concessional contribution cap – that is, your excess concessional contributions.

The yearly non-concessional contributions cap is now six times the amount of the (indexed) concessional contributions cap in that year. This means that the non-concessional contributions cap in 2011-12 remains at $150,000.

If you are under 65 years old, you can ‘bring forward’ two years’ worth of non-concessional contributions. This means you can contribute up to three times the yearly non-concessional cap at once, or at any time during a three financial year period. The three-year period starts with the year that you first contribute more than the non-concessional contributions cap.

How much extra tax do I have to pay if I exceed a cap?

Contributions in excess of the respective caps are taxed at different rates. The amount of tax you pay on the excess amount depends on which cap you exceed.

TABLE: Tax rates for contributions caps

Any concessional contributions made into your super fund over the concessional cap will also count towards your non-concessional contributions cap.

How can I remain under the caps?

You should regularly review your super contributions. If you are likely to exceed either of the caps and you don’t want to pay extra tax, you should adjust the amounts that are contributed to your super fund.

The timing of your contributions can also be important. Contributions are counted against the caps in the year in which they are received by your super fund.

Where can I get help?

You can speak to your employer or super fund for information about the type and amount of contributions paid to your super fund.

You should consider your options or seek professional advice before making any decisions about your super.

For more information:

visit www.ato.gov.au/supercaps

Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo today released the ATO’s annual 2011 prosecution figures for tax and superannuation offences.

“The ATO’s use of sophisticated data matching technology is helping to close the net around those exploiting the tax and super systems,” Mr D’Ascenzo said.

“People deliberately committing tax evasion are often caught by the sharing of information between government departments and other third parties.

“Cooperation across government departments has led to increased intelligence sharing and improved information gathering which is driving our data matching capabilities to new levels.

“We use advanced technology to bring together information from a range of government departments and other third parties to cross check personal and business records such as car registrations and supply orders for businesses.

“The ATO also undertakes risk profiling to identify people and businesses that may have not declared all their earnings or overinflate their deductions,” Mr D’Ascenzo said.

“We can see how personal and business claims compare to other tax payers. If alarms are raised the ATO investigates those claims and taxpayer records more closely.”

“The community as a whole pays the price for the actions of tax cheats. We take the responsibility of protecting the community from tax cheats very seriously and rigorously seek to identify people making false claims in their tax returns,” Mr D’Ascenzo said.

The ATO’s annual 2011 prosecution figures reveal that almost 1200 people were prosecuted and convicted for tax and superannuation offences last year:

• 48 people were prosecuted and convicted of serious tax crime offences, with sentences ranging from three months to nine years and 11 months. Six of these convictions occurred under Project Wickenby.
• 1,149 people and 370 companies were prosecuted and convicted for other tax offences. This included failing to lodge a tax return, providing false and misleading information, or receiving a fee for preparing an income tax return when not being a registered tax agent.

“People who are unclear of their tax or superannuation obligations, or are struggling to meet their obligations, should contact the ATO on 13 11 42 to discuss their situation,” Mr D’Ascenzo said.

If you believe someone is doing the wrong thing, you can report suspected tax fraud by calling the ATO on 1800 060 062. Registered Agents can use the dedicated Registered Agent phone line on 137 286 (using Fast Key Code 34) to help protect honest taxpayers. The information provided by registered agents may also be given to the Tax Practitioners Board.

Summary of 2011 tax fraud and prosecution figures

Serious Tax Crime Statistics

Project Wickenby

• The Project Wickenby cross-agency task force was established in 2006 to prevent people from promoting or participating in the abusive use of secrecy jurisdictions.
• From the commencement of the project to 31 January 2012, Project Wickenby has resulted in:
  • $1.26 billion in tax liabilities raised
  • $597.14 million in tax collected made up of 287.44 million in cash, 307.6 million in improved voluntary compliance and 2.1 million in cash recovered under Proceeds of Crime Act provisions.
  • 65 people having been charged with serious offences and 22 people having been convicted.

Goods and Services Tax (GST)

• As part of its Compliance Program the ATO is increasing its focus on non-complying taxpayers in the GST system, with $337 million provided in last financial year’s budget (over 4 years) for this purpose.
• The emphasis is on identifying people who do not lodge their business activity statements, and detecting businesses that over-claim entitlements or deliberately under-report taxable supplies that they make.
• In 2011 the ATO prosecuted 545 individuals and 211 companies for over $12.55 million worth of GST offences.

Cash Economy

• The ATO has increased scrutiny of businesses deliberately not reporting cash income, with over 1.9 million small businesses evaluated against the ATO’s sophisticated risk detection systems during 2011.
• In 2011 the ATO prosecuted 41 individuals and nine companies for over $3.22 million worth of Cash Economy offences.

Significant 2011 Tax Crime Prosecutions

Project Wickenby

• A Queensland based company director was sentenced to four years imprisonment for 10 offences including defrauding the Commonwealth, obtaining a financial advantage by deception and dishonestly causing a loss to the Commonwealth. Through his companies he participated in an illegal ’round-robin’ scheme where over $1.7 million from his companies was transferred offshore and then returned to him supposedly ‘tax free’.
• Two brothers were each sentenced to two years and seven months jail in the NSW District Court following investigations into the use of tax haven structures in Vanuatu under Project Wickenby. As former co-directors of a Sydney work safety company the pair used illegal ’round-robin’ schemes; where money from their company was transferred and then returned ‘tax free’ to their personal accounts, which they then claimed were loans.

Goods and services tax (GST)

• A Townsville Accountant was sentenced to five years jail for GST fraud offences. He set up a property development company with the sole purpose of committing tax fraud. He lodged 32 false BAS statements with the intent to receive GST refunds of over $580,000 that he was not entitled to.
• An unemployed woman from Victoria was sentenced to four years and nine months jail for GST and identity theft offences. She set up 11 separate businesses, some under other people’s names without their permission so she could attempt GST fraud of over $470,000. She used the identities of people she had previously prepared tax returns for, as well as deceased people. She also used non-existent businesses and addresses as part of her fraudulent claims.
• An Ipswich courier was sentenced to four years jail for GST fraud offences. He set up a courier business and submitted six totally fictitious Business Activity Statements with intent to receive GST refunds of over $115,000 that he was not entitled to.
• A Cairns director of a property development company was sentenced to four years jail for GST fraud offences. She submitted false Business Activity Statements totaling over $375,000 of GST claims that she could not substantiate.

Income tax

• An unemployed man from Queensland was sentenced to 9 years and 11 months jail for his role in organising and promoting illegal investment opportunities that claimed to provide participants with legitimate tax deductions. Over $46 million would have been fraudulently claimed through the scheme if the ATO had not intervened. Two other men were also each sentenced to 6 years jail for their role in the illegal investment scheme.
• A finance broker and unregistered tax agent from Brighton-Le-Sands, NSW was sentenced to nine years jail, for 57 counts of income tax fraud totaling over $720,000. The court found he prepared 57 fraudulent tax returns in the names of 36 taxpayers. Some taxpayers were not even in the country for the period when the unregistered tax agent reported they earned Australian income.

Cash Economy

• A Perth tradesman was convicted and fined $64,000 for making false and misleading statements in his Business Activity Statements and income tax returns. He was selected for an ATO audit due to consistently reporting income much lower than expected for someone working in the tiling trade. It was proved he hadn’t disclosed all his cash income to his tax agent and his cash book did not reconcile with the cash deposited into his bank and credit card accounts.

Failure to lodge returns

• A takeaway food services company from Heidelberg in Melbourne was convicted and fined $10,000 for five offences for failing to lodge income tax returns. The solicitor indicated this was the third case involving the same accountant that he had to defend for failure to lodge returns in the last two months. The Magistrate said it is not the responsibility of the accountant, but rather the entity and it’s directors to ensure lodgment occurs.
• A Sydney investment and data consultancy company was convicted and fined $11,000 for 11 offences for failing to lodge quarterly GST returns.
• A medical practitioner from Brisbane was convicted and fined $30,000 for eight offences for failing to lodge GST returns.
• A Sydney design service company was convicted and fined $25,000 for 13 offences of failing to lodge quarterly GST returns and a further $25,000 for four offences for failing to lodge income tax returns.
• A Melbourne restaurant owner was convicted and fined $11,000 for 11 offences for failing to lodge quarterly GST returns and fined $1,100 for two offences for failing to lodge income tax returns.
• An Sydney automotive repairer was convicted and fined $50,000 for six offences for failing to lodge GST returns.
• A truck driver from Wagga Wagga was convicted and fined $13,600 for four offences for failing to lodge income tax returns.
• A Sydney dentist was convicted and fined $10,000 for three offences for failing to lodge income tax returns.

Failure to comply

• A Sydney house construction company was convicted and fined $10,000 for failing to comply with court orders to lodge GST returns.

False and misleading statements

• A retail night filler and IT professional from Sydney was convicted and fined $3,000 for two offences of making a false or misleading statement. The matter arose from information received from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). It was alleged that the defendant falsely claimed a dependent spouse tax offset in his 2008 and 2009 income tax returns. In sentencing the Magistrate stated, “These are serious offences. Lying to the Commissioner of the ATO is lying to Australia. No one likes paying tax but it is a necessary evil. It is the responsibility of all of us to pay tax. To claim money by lying, you are committing fraud on the people of Australia.”

A Parramatta floor covering retailer was convicted and fined $2,000 for one offence of making a false or misleading statement.

In the 2009-10 Budget, the government announced a proposal to income test the private health insurance rebate.

From 1 July 2012, the private health insurance rebate and the Medicare levy surcharge will be income tested against three income tier thresholds.

If the legislation is passed, higher income earners will receive less private health insurance rebate or, if they do not have the appropriate level of private patient hospital cover, the Medicare levy surcharge may increase.

Your income threshold calculation is based on the definition of income used to calculate Medicare levy surcharge for individuals or families. The 2012-13 income thresholds are below.

Media release

For more information, refer to the media release issued by the Treasurer and Minister for Health and Ageing as part of the 2009-10 Budget.

Legislation and supporting material

These bills were introduced into parliament on 7 July 2011:

• Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2011
• Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2011
• Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge – Fringe Benefits) Bill 2011.

The bills passed the House of Representatives on 15 February 2012 and were introduced into the Senate on 27 February 2012.

Are you a business owner in the cafes and restaurants, real estate services or carpentry services industries? If so, we are currently running an education campaign to help you better understand your super obligations.

Despite the importance of super, some employers in these industries do not always get their super obligations right. Over the next six months, we will provide information to you to better understand your super obligations. Later this year we will be undertaking audits of employers who continue to not meet their super obligations for their employees.

How much to pay and who to pay it to

Generally, your employees are eligible for super if all of the following apply:

• they are between 18 and 69 years old (inclusive). Those under 18 must work more than 30 hours per week before becoming eligible
• they are paid $450 (before tax) or more in a calendar month
• they work on a full-time, part-time or casual basis.

The minimum super you must pay is 9% of each eligible employee’s ‘ordinary time earnings’ – basically, 9% of the amount they earn for their ordinary hours of work. You can generally claim a tax deduction for super contributions.

You must make payments at least four times a year – 28 October, 28 January, 28 April and 28 July.

What to do if you a miss a quarterly deadline

If you’re late paying your employee’s super or don’t pay enough, you must lodge a Superannuation guarantee charge statement with us.

You may have to pay super for contractors

You must pay super contributions for contractors you pay under a contract that is wholly or principally for the labour of that person. This is because they are considered employees for the purpose of superannuation guarantee, even if they have an ABN.

Keep accurate records

You must keep records that show:

• the amount of super you paid for each employee and how it was calculated
• that you have offered your eligible employees a choice of super fund
• how you calculated any reportable employer super contributions.

Pass on your employee’s TFN

You must pass on your employee’s tax file number (TFN) to their super fund within 14 days of receiving it or when you make the first contribution to their super fund, whichever occurs last. If you don’t pass on your employee’s TFN, you will be liable for a penalty.

Two recent Project Wickenby-related court cases have reinforced community expectations that serious tax fraud should be treated sternly and appropriately, Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo said today.

“Two appeal cases last week in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal have resulted in successful outcomes for Project Wickenby, with even tougher sentences imposed and reaffirming the seriousness of tax fraud and evasion,” Mr D’Ascenzo said.

On Monday Michael Boughen, and Wayne Francis Cameron, were sentenced by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal to 3 years imprisonment to be released after they have served 18 months and upon meeting certain conditions. This overturns the sentences imposed by Justice Finnane which were considered ‘manifestly inadequate’ and therefore the orders that the sentences be served by way of Intensive Correction Orders were in turn ‘erroneous’. Boughen and Cameron pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth and conspiracy to dishonestly cause a loss to the Commonwealth.

“The NSW Court of Criminal appeal outlined that the consequences of tax fraud should align to the consequences of social security fraud,” Mr D’Ascenzo said.

The Court said that ‘to fail to sentence middle class offenders commensurately with social security offenders risks bringing the administration of justice into disrepute as perpetrating class bias’.

Also, on Friday, the appeal against conviction and sentence of Michael Milne was dismissed, confirming his sentence of 8½ years imprisonment to serve 4 years and 9 months. Milne was found guilty in November 2010 of dishonestly obtaining a gain from a Commonwealth entity and money laundering.

“The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal confirmed that imposing ‘firm custodial sentences’ in instances of white collar crime was required to ensure an offender would not offend again, and to act as an important deterrent to others,” Mr D’Ascenzo said.

“The Court also reinforced the strong community expectation that serious tax fraud will be properly punished and offenders should be dealt with sternly and appropriately.”

Project Wickenby

Project Wickenby is a cooperative partnership between the ATO, Australian Federal Police, Australian Crime Commission, Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, with support from the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, the Australian Government Solicitor and the Attorney-General’s Department.

As at 31 January 2012 the Project Wickenby taskforce has resulted in:

• $1,261 million in tax liabilities raised
• $287.44 million in tax collected
• 65 people charged with serious offences
• 22 people convicted of serious offences
• 12 criminal investigations currently in progress
• $105.25 million in assets restrained, and
• $307.6 million gathered in improved voluntary compliance.