Professional bodies request further lodgement deferrals

In a joint letter, the Institute of Public Accountants, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, CPA Australia, the National Tax and Accountants’ Association, Tax & Super Australia and the Tax Institute, have written to the ATO asking for a further deferral of the lodgement deadline for individuals, companies, partnerships and trusts to 30 June. 

The Tax Office earlier granted a deferral to 5 June, however, the bodies now argue that their members have had very limited capacity to attend to their clients’ routine tax obligations.

“Our members are telling us throughout the duration of the crisis, and in particular over the last three to four weeks, that they have been inundated with pressing requirements to assist their clients access the variety of stimulus package measures, including the Cash Flow Boost and JobKeeper schemes,” the joint letter reads. 

“As a result of this priority focus, they have had very limited capacity to attend to their clients’ routine tax obligations.”

Explaining that compliance with the stimulus package measures is an obvious priority given the short time frames in which taxpayers have had to determine their eligibility, the bodies explained that many of their members are “quite stressed and anxious” about not being able to meet their lodgement requirements. 

“Further, taking a ‘client by client’ approach to lodgement deferral requests is prohibitively time consuming for practitioners at this time. A streamlined (ideally bulk) approach is their preference. A case by case approach to lodgement deferral requests also adds to the ATO’s workload,” the letter reads.

The IPA, CPA, CA, the NTAA, Tax & Super Australian and the Tax Institute added that if the ATO is unable to accede to their request, “we would appreciate your consideration of targeted deferrals to support those that have been most heavily impacted by the stimulus package measures”.  

This, they suggested, may take the form of providing deferrals to smaller practices with: a substantial business client base; a significant proportion of their client base claiming JobKeeper and/or receiving Cash Flow Boost payments; good lodgement program performance history; substantial progress in their 2018-19 lodgement program; or a combination of the above.

“We also suggest that a statement to the tax profession from the ATO executive on this issue would assist in highlighting the currently available support and the intended treatment of those who are unable to satisfy their lodgement program requirement,” the joint letter concluded. 

“This could incorporate the various statements already made by the ATO in a unified message to tax professionals addressing the 85 per cent lodgement program performance requirement, application of late lodgement penalties and assessment of further tax agent-requested deferrals.”