Upcoming ATO reporting obligations

The ATO requires employers who issue shares or share options to employees to complete their reporting obligations. The deadlines to comply with the reporting requirements are:

• ESS statements are due to be issued to employees by 14 July 2025,
• ATO reports are due for lodgement with ATO by 14 August 2025. 

What do the ATO reporting obligations mean for you?

Our innovative solution | CTS ESS Toolkit

Our CTS ESS Toolkit, an ATO-approved and compliant software, enables employers to simplify their online annual employee share scheme reporting obligations.

We are one of only a handful of providers to have passed ATO testing and have ATO approval for our specialised software. Using the CTS ESS Toolkit, SW has been successfully working with businesses to meet their ESS lodgement requirements.

The table below outlines the types of companies that are most likely to benefit from using the CTS ESS Toolkit.

Significant global entities (SGE)

SGEs are entities that have an annual global turnover of A$1 billion or more. SGEs are subject to increased Failure to Lodge (FTL) penalties for late lodgement of every ATO document or approved form. The SGE penalties are currently $165,000 for each 28 days in which an approved form is lodged after the due date up to a maximum of $825,000. The lodgement of ESS reporting falls within this definition.

The public officer of the company is responsible for the company’s obligations under the income tax law, including the timely lodgement of approved forms with the ATO. If your company is part of an SGE, we recommend implementing systems for timely lodgements of ESS reports with the ATO.

How SW can help

There is limited time to meet ESS reporting requirements. The ATO is particularly emphasising on ensuring corporates comply with timely and accurate reporting obligations.

Now is the time to ensure your business is prepared for reporting season. We offer a fully outsourced service or license our software.

Please contact Sam Morris or Justin Batticciotto to learn how to comply with the ATO reporting requirements and discover how our CTS ESS Toolkit can assist.

Contributor

Justin Batticciotto

The post Simplify employee share schemes reporting with the CTS ESS Toolkit appeared first on SW Accountants & Advisors.

Upcoming ATO reporting obligations

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have reporting obligations in place, affecting employers who issue shares or share options to their employees.  The deadlines to comply with the reporting requirements are:

• ESS statements are due to be issued to employees by 14 July 2024.
• ATO reports are due for lodgement with ATO by 14 August 2024. 

What do the ATO reporting obligations mean for you?

Our innovation solution | CTS ESS Toolkit

Our ‘Complete Tax Solutions Employee Share Scheme’ Toolkit (CTS ESS Toolkit), an ATO-approved and compliant software enables employers to simplify their online annual employee share scheme reporting obligations.

Using the CTS ESS Toolkit, SW have been successfully working with businesses to meet their ESS lodgement requirements since electronic reporting began. We are one of only a handful of providers to have passed ATO testing and have ATO approval for our specialised software. CTS ESS Toolkit is designed to help you meet the ATO’s ESS reporting requirements.

The table below outlines the types of companies that are most likely to benefit from using the CTS ESS Toolkit.

Significant Global Entities

Significant Global Entities (SGE) are entities which are part of a group with annual global turnover of A$1 billion or more. SGEs are subject to increased Failure to Lodge (FTL) penalties for late lodgement of each and every ATO document or approved form. The SGE penalties are currently $156,500 for each 28 days in which an approved form is lodged after the due date up to a maximum of $782,500. The penalties apply to each and every late lodgement of an approved form. We consider the lodgement of ESS reporting would fall within this definition.

The public officer of the company is responsible for the company’s obligations under the income tax law, including the timely lodgement of approved forms with the ATO. If your company is part of an SGE, we recommend that you implement systems to ensure timely lodgements of the relevant ESS reports with the ATO.

Next steps

Time is limited to make the necessary arrangements to comply with the ESS reporting requirements.  The ATO is particularly keen to ensure corporates are compliant and provide timely and accurate reporting.

Now is the time to ensure your business is not left behind and that everything is ready for reporting season.  We can provide a fully outsourced service or license our software.

To discuss how to comply with the ATO reporting requirements or learn more about how our ESS Toolkit will help you, please contact Sam Morris or Justin Batticciotto on the details below.

Contributors

Sam Morris

E: smorris@sw-au-com

Justin Batticciotto

E: jbatticciotto@sw-au.com

The post 2024 Employee Share Scheme (ESS) Reporting appeared first on SW Accountants & Advisors.

ATO reporting obligations

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have reporting obligations in place, affecting employers who issue shares or share options to their employees.  The deadlines to comply with the reporting requirements are:

• ESS statements are due to be issued to employees by 14 July 2023
• ATO reports are due for lodgement with ATO by 14 August 2023. 

What do the ATO reporting obligations mean for you?

Please note that for all ESS interests (new and existing) that are subject to deferred taxation with the deferred taxing point on or after 1 July 2022, cessation of employment has been removed as a deferred taxing point.  

Our innovation solution | CTS ESS Toolkit

SW has developed the ‘Complete Tax Solutions Employee Share Scheme’ Toolkit (CTS ESS Toolkit), an ATO-approved and compliant software which enables employers to simplify their online annual employee share scheme reporting obligations.

Using the CTS ESS Toolkit, SW have been successfully working with businesses to meet their ESS lodgement requirements since electronic reporting began. We are one of only a handful of providers to have passed ATO testing and have ATO approval for our specialised software. CTS ESS Toolkit is designed to help you meet the ATO’s ESS reporting requirements.

The table below outlines the types of companies that are most likely to benefit from using the CTS ESS Toolkit.

Introduction of ‘New Division’ into Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)

Please note any offer of ESS interests to employees made under any existing share plans or new plans should consider whether offers will comply with the recently introduced Division 1A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). The ‘New Division’ overhauls the existing ESS regulatory framework for unlisted and listed companies and updates the legislative framework for entities seeking disclosure relief.    

Next steps

Time is limited to make the necessary arrangements to comply with the ESS reporting requirements. The ATO is particularly keen to ensure corporates are compliant and provide timely and accurate reporting.

Now is the time to ensure your business is not left behind and that everything is ready for reporting season. We can provide a fully outsourced service or license our software; whichever you prefer.

If you would like to discuss how to comply with the ATO reporting requirements or learn more about how our ESS Toolkit will help you, please contact either Sam Morris or Justin Batticciotto on the details below.

Contacts

Sam Morris

E smorris@sw-au-com

Justin Batticciotto

E jbatticciotto@sw-au.com

The post 2023 Employee Share Scheme (ESS) Reporting appeared first on SW Accountants & Advisors.

ATO reporting obligations

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have reporting obligations in place, affecting employers who offer shares or share options to their employees. The deadlines to comply with the reporting requirements are:

• ESS statements are due to be issued to employees by 14 July 2022
• ATO reports are due for lodgement with ATO by 14 August 2022 (15 August due to weekend)

What do the ATO reporting obligations mean for you?

Legislation removing the cessation of employment as a taxing point received Royal Assent on 10 February 2022 and will apply to all ESS interests (new and existing) that are subject to deferred taxation, provided the deferred taxing point occurs on or after 1 July 2022. This change will therefore not impact prior year ESS interests or the 2022 lodgements.

Innovation solution

SW has developed compliant software that has been approved by the ATO to enable employers to simplify their online annual employee share scheme reporting obligations.

We have developed the ‘Complete Tax Solutions Employee Share Scheme’ Toolkit (CTS ESS Toolkit) which can help you meet the ATO’s ESS reporting requirements. SW is one of only a handful or providers to have passed ATO testing and we have ATO approval for the software. We have been successfully working with businesses to meet their ESS lodgement requirements since electronic reporting began. 

The table below outlines the types of companies that are most likely to benefit from using the CTS ESS Toolkit.

Next steps

Time is limited to make the necessary arrangements to comply with the ESS reporting requirements. The ATO is particularly keen to ensure corporates are compliant and providing timely and accurate reporting.

Now is the time to ensure your business is not left behind and you have everything in place ready for reporting season. We can provide a fully outsourced service or license our software; whichever you prefer.

If you would like to discuss how to comply with the ATO reporting requirements, or learn more about how our ESS Toolkit will help you, please contact either Sam Morris or Justin Batticciotto on the details below.

Contacts

Sam Morris

E smorris@sw-au-com

Justin Batticciotto

E jbatticciotto@sw-au.com

The post 2022 Employee Share Scheme Reporting appeared first on SW Accountants & Advisors.

This year, the series will be delivered online, and sessions are spread across the year with a focus on topics of particular relevance and importance to our clients in 2022, and also provide you with a general update on what’s new in financial reporting.

Series details

Webinar 1 (28 April 2022): Share-based payments

This session delved into the key tax and accounting issues surrounding share-based payments with insightful worked examples. The webinar covered:

• Overview and background
• Recent changes to tax legislation
• What is a share-based payment?
• Vesting conditions
• Recognition and measurement – worked example
• Valuation methodologies

Webinar 2 (19 May 2022): Financial services

Our experts focused on financial services and provided an update on:

• Regulatory update – accounting standards, regulatory bodies
• SIV fund compliance update
• AFSL compliance update including transition to general purpose financial reporting
• Tax update for financial services

Webinar 3 (9 June 2022): Financial Reporting update for financial year end 30 June 2022

Our experts provided insight and an update on:

• Accounting standard changes
• Key focus areas for 30 June 2022 reporting
• ASIC update and focus areas
• Corporate governance update
• Other regulatory changes

Webinar 4 (17 November 2022): Financial Reporting update for financial year end 31 December 2022

Our experts will cover:

• Accounting standard changes
• Key focus areas for 31 December 2022 reporting
• ASIC update and focus areas
• Corporate governance update
• Other regulatory changes

Series experts

René Muller
Partner, Assurance and Advisory Services
SW 

Tom Mullarkey
Partner, Assurance and Advisory Services
SW 

Jimmy Cao
Associate Director, Assurance and Advisory Services
SW 

Justin Batticciotto
Associate Director, Tax
SW

Vikas Nahar
Director, Corporate Finance 
SW

Bessie Zhang
Partner, Assurance and Advisory Services
SW

Rami Eltchelebi
Partner, Assurance and Advisory Services
SW 

Simon Tucker
Director, Tax 
SW

Brent Sheers
Senior Manager, Assurance and Advisory Services
SW

Mark Smit
Associate Director, Assurance and Advisory Services
SW 

Contact us

If you have any queries or would like more information, please contact the Marketing team via marketing@sw-au.com.

The post Financial Reporting Webinar Series appeared first on SW Accountants & Advisors.

On 23 February 2022, the Commissioner released Draft Determination TD 2022/D2, addressing the deductibility of expenses incurred when establishing and administering an Employee Share Scheme (ESS).

The Commissioner has stated expenses incurred from the establishment and/or amendment of an Employee Share Scheme (ESS) are not deductible under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 as they are viewed as capital in nature. This may be seen as a departure from a general view that employee costs are more typically revenue in nature.

Expenses not deductible

Establishment fees can include:

• Legal fees incurred from establishing an Employee Share Trust (EST) or ESS plan rules
• Start-up costs, such as commencement charges for a trustee company, or
• Registration fees with authorities such as stamp duty or ASIC fees.

Amendment fees can include:

• Legal fees paid to amend either the EST or ESS plan rules, or
• Regulatory fees and stamp duty paid to authorities.

To the extent that the business is carried on for a taxable purpose, both establishment and amendment fees would be deductible to the employer company in equal proportions over 5 years under section 40-880 of the ITAA 1997.  

Section 40-880; commonly referred to as ‘black-hole expenditure’ provides a deduction for certain capital expenditure of a business on a straight-line basis over a 5-year period.  Section 40-880 only applies to capital costs incurred in relation to a past, present, or proposed business that is not otherwise dealt with under other income tax provisions. 

The Commissioner did confirm however, that the ongoing expenses associated with the administration of an ESS should be deductible under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997.  

Deductible expenses

Ongoing expenses include:

• brokerage fees
• audit fees
• bank charges
• making new offers to employees under an existing ESS, or
• other ongoing administrative expenses.

Fees relating to annual ESS reporting should continue to be deductible, however questions must now be raised as to whether the ATO’s view will impact on broader issues such as the tax treatment of contributions to employee share trusts and expenses they incur. 

How SW can assist

Once TD 2022/D2 is finalised by the ATO, it is important to note the determination will apply both prospectively and retrospectively.

If you want to discuss any of the aspects of this draft determination or concerns regarding your existing or future ESS, please contact your SW advisor or one of our experts.

Contributors

Justin Batticciotto

E: jbatticciotto@sw-au.com

The post Employee Share Schemes: Deductibility of expenses appeared first on SW Accountants & Advisors.

Managing tax detail and compliance can be overwhelming, especially for small and medium-sized and even larger private businesses. From cloud migration to strategice planning, international business to tax and accounting compliance, we offer comprehensive tax services that help you identify and manage potential tax risks before they become a problem, maximise tax opportunities and minimise exposure, take realistic tax positions, and ensure compliance with all ATO requirements.

This way, you can focus on what matters most to you: growing your business.

Our extensive involvement in the industry and deep understanding of legislative and administrative reforms means we are actively involved and up-to-date on all current tax issues that impact businesses. Our knowledgeable teams are dedicated to ensuring that your business is fully compliant with tax regulations and optimized for the best possible tax outcomes.

We believe in providing a personal touch, so our senior engagement leaders take the time to keep you informed and answer any questions you may have. Our goal is to provide you with peace of mind, knowing that your tax affairs are being managed by experienced professionals that are an extension of your team.

The range of our services to private and unlisted businesses is extensive and includes: 

• accounting and taxation compliance
• business advisory
• business and financial structures
• corporate governance
• international business advisory
• outsourced accounting solutions
• performance improvement
• strategic planning
• succession planning.

The post Tax for Private Business appeared first on SW Accountants & Advisors.

The deadlines to comply with the new reporting requirements are:

• Employee reports (payment summaries) are due to be issued to employees by 14 July
• ATO reports are due for lodgement with ATO by 14 August.

CTS ESS – Innovative Solution

SW has developed CTS ESS to simplify and automate employers’ online annual employee share scheme reporting obligations. CTS ESS enables Electronic lodgement of the ATO reports via the Standard Business Reporting (SBR) portal. 

What do the ATO reporting obligations mean to you?

What types of companies are most likely to benefit from using CTS ESS?

The ATO is particularly keen to ensure corporates are compliant and providing timely and accurate reporting. Now is the time to ensure your business is not left behind and you have everything in place ready for reporting season. We can provide a fully outsourced service or license our software; whichever you prefer.

Large, privately owned company (>50 reportable employees)

Commonly tax and finance is done in-house and support required for one-off compliance and advisory projects such as ESS reporting.

Head-quartered overseas (either >50 reportable employees or <50 if no ABN)

With subsidiaries/employees in Australia particularly if:

• Australian employees are in split roles here and overseas
• Where finance and payroll functions are based offshore, and no access to the required software for ESS reporting.

ASX listed company

If you are currently reporting ESS information through the Australian Share Registry, the ESS reporting requirement changes are unlikely to affect you. However, you may wish to consider CTS ESS as an alternative means of meeting your ESS reporting requirements.

Want to find out more? 

To learn more about how CTS can benefit your business, simply click here to email our CTS team and a team member will be in touch with you within the next business day.

The post CTS for Employee Share Schemes appeared first on SW Accountants & Advisors.

Navigating the detail of tax can be a daunting task for businesses and finance teams, particularly for companies with complex transactions, structures and workforces. We’ll help you identify and manage tax risks, maximise opportunities and minimise exposure, take realistic tax positions and ensure compliance with all ATO requirements. 

We have a highly skilled specialist tax teams working with multinational corporations and Australian subsidiaries of overseas companies, as well as Australian and Asia Pacific firms of all sizes.  

Our significant involvement in industry and a high level of involvement in reforms, both legislative and administrative, means we are actively involved and across all current tax issues that impact business.  

We are closely involved in consultative processes, making submissions to Treasury and/or the ATO and have extensive experience managing successful ATO reviews including Combined Assurance Reviews (CARs), Streamlined Assurance Reviews (STARs) and ATO top 20 and top 100 reviews.  

Our team can provide end-to-end solutions across: 

• corporate & International tax advisory 
• Country by Country reporting 
• employment taxes (PAYG, FBT, superannuation and payroll) 
• expatriate taxes 
• FATCA / CRS 
• fuel tax credits 
• fund tax advisory 
• Government grant assistance 
• global workforce mobility services 
• GST and indirect taxes 
• tax due diligence 
• transfer pricing 
• tax structuring 
• tax effect accounting  
• tax governance implementation and review 
• tax controversy, dispute, review and audits 
• tax compliance automation 
• research and development tax incentive 
• remuneration and benefits (share schemes) 
• State taxes (Stamp Duty, Land Tax, GAIC).

The post Tax for Corporates appeared first on SW Accountants & Advisors.

Webinar 1 (18 March 2021): Removal of special purpose financial reporting

• Moving from Special Purpose to General Purpose Financial Statements
• Exempt entities
• Requirements of AASB 1060 i.e. New tier 2 General Purpose Financial Statements – Simplified Disclosures
• Applying AASB 1 First-time Adoption of Australian Accounting Standards

Webinar 2 (29 April 2021): Valuation of assets

• Identifying impairment indicators
• Fair valuing assets in accordance with accounting standards
• Estimating key inputs
• Accounting for impairment of assets

Webinar 3 (27 May 2021): Financial Reporting update for 30 June 2021

• Accounting standard changes
• Key focus areas for 30 June 2021 reporting
• ASIC update and focus areas
• Corporate governance update
• Other regulatory changes

Webinar 4 (11 November 2021): Financial Reporting update for 31 December 2021

• Accounting standard changes
• Key focus areas for 31 December 2021 reporting
• ASIC update and focus areas
• Corporate governance update
• Other regulatory changes
• Not-for-profit update
• Employee share schemes update

Series speakers

René Muller
Partner

Tom Mullarkey
Partner

Kerry McGoldrick
Partner

Contact us

If you have any queries or would like more information, please contact the Marketing team via marketing@sw-au.com.

The post Financial Reporting series 2021 appeared first on SW Accountants & Advisors.