In this edition:

Welcome

Single Touch Payroll starts 1st July

The ATO's FBT hot spots

Small business benchmarks

Franking credits and your SMSF

Tax tips for Airbnb

Small business benchmarks

The ATO has a list of small business benchmarks which enable you to compare your business's performance against similar businesses in the same industry. These benchmarks are updated annually to reflect the performance of businesses over time. 

The ATO uses these benchmarks and other risk indicators to identify businesses that may be avoiding their tax obligations by not reporting some or all of their income. The ATO uses the information reported in your tax return or activity statements to compare with the key performance benchmarks for your industry. 

Examples of the tax return benchmarks used include the following:

1.     Cost of sales to turnover (excluding labour)

2.     Total expenses to turnover

3.     Rent to turnover

4.     Labour to turnover

5.     Motor vehicle expenses to turnover

Examples of the activity statement benchmarks used include the following:

1.     Non-capital purchases to total sales

2.     GST-free sales to total sales

The A-Z Benchmark list allows you to select and find details of the key performance benchmarks for each business type and the range within which the ATO would expect your business to sit.

You can also find the business performance check tool by:

1.     downloading the ATO app from Google Play, the Windows Phone Store or the Apple App Store

2.     go to Business

3.     select Business performance check

4.     have your information ready and enter the figures into the tool

5.   compare your business performance

The personal information you enter isn't recorded and will only be used for completing the tool.

If you find that your business does not fall within the benchmark range contact your client manager to discuss.