The proposed new laws will require entities that provide courier or cleaning services to report to ATO details of transactions involving contractors. According to ATO guidance, contractors include sole traders (individuals), companies, partnerships, or trusts.
For couriers, the proposal captures any service where an entity collects goods (ie, packages, letters, food, flowers, or any other goods) and delivers them to another location.
The Government is hoping the imposition of additional compliance will encourage tax compliance, particularly in the food delivery market, which is gaining in popularity.
Similarly, cleaning services have also been broadly defined in the proposal to refer to any service where a structure, vehicle, place, surface, machinery or equipment has been subject to a process in which dirt or similar material has been removed from it.
What will you need to declare?
If you employ couriers or cleaners
Entities captured by this measure will need to lodge an annual report to the ATO detailing each contractor’s ABN, name, address, gross amount paid for the financial year (including GST) and the total GST included in the gross amount that was paid. If this applies to you and you employ couriers or cleaners you may also be required to provide additional information, such as the contractor’s phone number, email address and bank account details. In essence, companies such as deliveroo, ubereats, foodora, as well as a host of other players, could face the increased compliance costs of having to lodge hundreds, if not thousands, of these reports to the ATO each year.
If you contract as a courier or cleaner
If you are a courier or a cleaner (and you provide contract services), the data collected about you will be used in data-matching programs to ensure that all of your income is reported correctly to the ATO. If you are contracted to a delivery company or a cleaning company you will need to keep careful records of what you are being paid. This is particularly important if you only work for these companies on an occasional or part-time basis.
How about the timing?
Should this proposal pass as law, the first annual report will be for the 2018–2019 financial year.
What to do next
Any relevant business that is required to report will need to collect relevant information from 1 July 2018, with the report due by 28 August 2019. Information from the reports (which will be data matched with information provided by contractors) will apply on tax returns for the 2018–2019 income year. Speak to us if you think this could be relevant to you.
If you would like to know more about this subject, please contact us on (08) 9321 2642.
