190,000 taxpayers‘ examined’ in ATO online rental blitz
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has announced a new data-matching program targeting taxpayers earning income from the exploding popularity of short-term rentals available on platforms like AirBNB and Stayz.
Utilising information from online platform sharing sites matched to information from financial institutions, the ATO is targeting 190,000 individuals to make sure they have not failed to declare or under-declared rental income or have overclaimed deductions. In effect, whatever data your sharing platform holds on you will need to match what you have declared in your tax return. And yes, the ATO can potentially check what is coming in and out of your bank account. The ATO states that there is no such thing as a “rental hobby” so even a one-off rental needs to be declared.
Inside the September Newsletter you will find articles on:
Last minute changes to Company tax and Franking rate passed by Parliament
What exactly is ‘passive income’?
Maximum franking rate
The impending changes to speed up your repayments
New domestic violence leave entitlements come into force
Tax ‘safe harbour’ for inherited property
ATO takes its share of car sharing