APL Accounting News October 2014
No more paper forms from the ATO
Some of you were caught out when your monthly Instalment Activity Statement (for wages and PAYGW for the business) never arrived in the mail. We know many of you use this as a reminder to actually send your figures to the ATO and pay them.
Unfortunately the ATO have decided that if we lodge your quarterly Business Activity Statement (BAS with GST, PAYGW and Tax Instalment) for you then you don’t require a paper form for your monthly IAS. We have tried to find a solution for this with the ATO, but they refuse to see your monthly IAS as a separate function from your BAS and can not send out the paper forms to you.
The solution we have if we complete your BAS for you (as obviously we can’t make the ATO do what we would like for you):
– we will send you an email reminder each month that you need to complete your IAS
– you will need to go into your business portal and complete the form online and submit it (and of course also pay)
This means that you MUST have business portal access. For those of you that don’t already have this please go to https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Business-Portal/In-detail/Getting-started/Register-to-use-our-online-services/
Please note that you will need an AusKey for this, all information available at the site above.
We would love to help you with this, but you will need to contact the ATO directly if you have any problems as we don’t have the necessary information or knowledge of their computer systems.
We know many of you find this monthly IAS confusing, so for those of you who pay PAYGW to the ATO monthly then the IAS is required for:
Jan, Feb, April, May, July, August, October, November wages (the other months are included in your BAS). You complete the form and pay the ATO in the month following, so your next IAS form and payment aren’t due until late November!
Bottom of the pack
Zack is a dog who is a couch potato and has an unusual life experience. His owners who were once exciting vets have now become boring accountants. They used to bring him into the exciting vet practice every day, now they bring him into a boring accounting office every day. This gives him a unique dog’s eye view on both professions.
Ok, I’ve done a similar article before, but I will do it again as it is relevant to my current lifestyle! -its all about annual health checks and dentistry these days and once again I was due to get my Hollywood smile spruced up. Yes, Mom and Dad refuse to have me on the bed once the doggy breath starts up again, so they religiously send me off for my annual dental clean up. Once they explained to my usual vet that I had already been vaccinated elsewhere on account of my ‘secret shopping’ duties, they requested the usual treatment including pre-operative bloods.
Needless to say, now that they are on the other side of the consulting room table, they seem to find that dentistry and annual health checks take a higher priority than when they were vets. Yes, it seems that although it may have felt a bit strange as a vet to advise an annual dental, now that they are consumers, they are more than happy to have my teeth cleaned regularly. After all, a quick scale and polish every year is far better than having my teeth pulled out!
Then there was also the factor of my lipomas to consider. Two of them would you believe, one on either side of my chest. But you dont know its a lipoma until you’ve sampled it, or so I’m told. So in keeping with ‘best practice’ both were removed and sent for histopath.
This then brings me to my last point – the importance of pet insurance, and yes I’m an insured pooch. Although the dental was not covered, the removal of my lumps was. I think promotion of pet insurance is a very good idea. It allows my doctor to do the best job he can without having to worry about Mom and Dad’s bill. I think ALL pampered pets should be insured, so tell your customers about it, everyone is better off.
Please Note: Many of the comments in this publication are general in nature and anyone intending to apply the information to practical circumstances should seek professional advice to independently verify their interpretation and the information’s applicability to their particular circumstances.