29 September 2025 to 3 October 2025
Weekly Bulletin Contents
TAX
Monday 27 October 2025
ATO and TPB collaboration in dealing with adviser misconduct
The ATO has welcomed investigations by the ATO’s Wealth Program and the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) that has led to the TPB terminating the registration of Sydney-based tax following the identification of serious misconduct. The process that led to his deregistration followed an examination of his affairs by the ATO Wealth Program. This uncovered key findings, including: an altered receipt for falsely claiming a personal tax deduction; false claims of rental deductions and losses; failure to submit multiple tax returns and failure to submit business activity statements for associated entities.
Taxpayer cannot call ATO officer as witness
In an interlocutory matter, the ART has refused a taxpayer’s application to issue a summons to an ATO officer to appear as a witness in a dispute before it relating to entitlement to GST input tax credits. The ART found that there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the ATO officer had any information relevant to the proceedings given the jurisdiction of the Tribunal and the nature of proceedings bought before it under Pt IVC of the TAA 1953. The ART also dismissed the taxpayer’s request to vacate the hearing date in view of competing matters impacting the taxpayer and/or its representative. It did so essentially on the basis that prior hearings had already been vacated twice. (BDD and FCT (Taxation) [2025] ARTA 2197, 20 October 2025)
ATO: Auditing SMSFs with crypto assets
The ATO has advised that if a SMSF invests in crypto assets, the approved SMSF auditor must check that the investment complies with superannuation laws and regulations. The ATO said that during the audit, you should confirm that the investment: is permitted under the fund’s trust deed; aligns with the fund’s investment strategy; is held and owned by the fund (ie it is stored in a digital wallet in the fund’s name, separate from any crypto personally held by trustees or members); and is reported at market value in the fund’s financial statements.
Tuesday 28 october 2025
Commissioner wins appeal against gold traders
In a 2:1 majority, the Full Federal Court has upheld two separate appeals by the Commissioner against Tribunal decisions about the application of the GST anti-avoidance rules to a couple of “missing trader” decisions made by the AAT. The cases involved the deliberate damaging or adulteration of precious metals so that it becomes regarded as scrap gold and subject to GST. The final link in the chain paid a price that reflected its entitlement to GST input tax credits while the rogue supplier that sold them the scrap gold simply failed to remit the GST and disappeared.
The Tribunals originally held that the GST anti-avoidance rules did not apply as the dominant purpose of the rogue suppliers was not for the refiners to obtain their GST input tax credits, but to enrich themselves by failing to remit their GST liabilities. However, having regard to who knew (or should have known) what about what was really going on and, in one case, the appellant’s failure to call a key witness, the majority of the Full Court held that the Tribunals had erred in law in failing to find the requisite dominant purpose. Both cases were accordingly remitted back to the ART for yet another differently constituted Tribunal to review the objection decisions according to the law. C of T v CPG Group Pty Ltd [2025] FCAFC 147 and C of T v ACN 154 520 199 Pty Ltd (in liquidation) [2025] FCAFC 146, 24 October 2025)
Proposed minor changes to OECD 15% minimum tax rules
Treasury has released for consultation proposed minor changes to the OECD 15% minimum tax for large companies introduced in 2024. These rules make sure large companies pay at least 15%. The changes are based on OECD guidance on the rules and include: an equity investment inclusion election; rules on qualified flow-through tax benefits; an election for regulated mutual insurance companies; and rules on securitisation entities. Comments due 21 November 2025.
Wednesday 29 October 2025
No entitlement to carers offset – no evidence of pension
The ART has ruled that a taxpayer was not entitled to the the Dependant (Invalid and Carer) tax offset under s 6-10 of the ITAA 1997 in respect of his wife who suffered from a physical disability. Essentially, the ART found that there was no evidence before the Tribunal that showed that a disability pension had been received by the wife, as required (including none in her tax return). In any event, the ART said it was doubtful whether, under the mathematical calculations for working out the amount of the offset, the taxpayer would have been entitled to any offset given the amount of days for which the taxpayer claimed his wife received the pension in the relevant income year. (Urquhart and FCT (Taxation) [2025] ARTA 2267 (24 October 2025)
ATO: How to work how much super guarantee to pay
The ATO has released information for employers to help them work out how much super guarantee they must pay and what’s considered ordinary time earnings (OTE) and overtime. The ATO also emphasised that, as an employer, it’s compulsory to pay your eligible employees SG at least 4 times a year – and that from 1 July 2025 this is 12% of their ordinary time earnings (OTE) for the quarter. The ATO also noted that employers may be required to pay SG at a higher rate under an award or agreement. Finally, the ATO said that if you don’t pay the required SG amount by the quarterly due date, you must pay the super guarantee charge.
Thursday 30 October 2025
Man jailed over fraudulent business activity statements
The ATO has advised that a Melbourne man has been sentenced to one year and 6 months’ imprisonment for defrauding and attempting to defraud the ATO of more than $250,000 in fraudulent business activity statements. He was sentenced in the County Court of Victoria to 18 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 8 months. The remainder of his sentence will be served under a Recognisance Release Order. An AFP investigation into the fraud activity began in December 2022, after the man, now aged 29, received GST refunds after lodging fraudulent business activity statements for ‘handyman services’ over a 6-month period. The man also attempted to claim an additional $73,569 in GST refunds.
ATO: $19 Billion in lost and unclaimed super
The ATO has advised that there is almost $19 billion in lost and unclaimed superannuation waiting to be claimed by over 7 million people. The ATO said there could be a number of reasons why someone may have lost or unclaimed super, but finding and claiming it, is quick and easy. The ATO also said that super can become lost if your account is inactive, and your fund can’t contact you – so if you’ve changed jobs, moved house or simply forgotten to update your details, you may have lost or unclaimed super.
Ruling updated – advance pricing arrangements
The ATO has updated PS LA 2015/4 Advance pricing arrangements. The update is a reflection of recommendations stemming from the APA Program Review published in 2023 and improvements in the processes implemented since then. This includes setting clearer mutual expectations, redefining APA program entry criteria, increasing transparency and clarity on the decision-making process, program governance updates and updates to how collateral issues are treated depending on the stage of the APA process. The updates are relevant to ATO staff, advisers and business engaged in the APA process.
Friday 24 October 2025
NOTICE TO MEMBERS
Taxpayers Australia Ltd (TAL) Annual General Meeting
Notice is hereby given that the 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Members of Taxpayers Australia Ltd (TAL), a public company limited by guarantee incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the Act), will be held on Friday, 28 November 2025 at 10.00am AEST (Brisbane time) at the office of AEPMA, Airport Gateway Business Centre, Unit 6 / 12 Navigator Place, Hendra QLD 4011. Members are invited to attend the meeting in person.
Further details regarding the meeting, including access to relevant documentation, are available on our website.
TAI Practitioners and Advisers Ltd (TAI PAL) Annual General Meeting
Notice is hereby given that the 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Members of TAI Practitioners and Advisers Ltd (TAI PAL), a public company limited by guarantee incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the Act), will be held on Friday 28 November 2025 at 11.00am AEST (Brisbane time) at the office of AEPMA, Airport Gateway Business Centre, Unit 6 / 12 Navigator Place, Hendra QLD 4011. Members are encouraged to attend at the meeting in person.
Further details regarding the meeting, including access to relevant documentation, are available on our website.
Members are reminded to log in to the member portal to view all associated papers and information relating to the AGM.
Taxpayer fails to discharge onus – evidence not reliable
A company taxpayer has been unsuccessful in discharging the onus of proving that amended assessment for the 2014 to 2016 income years were excessive (albeit the Commissioner made various concessions before the proceedings). Essentially, the ART found that the evidence presented was not sufficiently reliable to discharge the onus – and this included lack of business records, unexplained bank deposits and a witness statement where the witness was not available for cross examination. In addition, the taxpayer failed to discharge the onus that administrative penalties for misleading statements were excessive, with the ART saying there had been “a disregard or indifference to a risk that was foreseeable”. (Bani Samuel Pty Ltd and FCT (Taxation) [2025] ARTA 2186, 17 October 2025)
CBC reporting: routine profits test
The ATO has released information on how to apply the routine profits test for the transitional CBC reporting safe harbour under Pillar Two. The ATO said that the routine profits test is one of the 3 tests that can be used to determine if the transitional CBC reporting safe harbour applies to a jurisdiction for a fiscal year. The test compares the multinational enterprise group’s (MNE group) profit for the jurisdiction, as reported in its qualified CBC report, against a prescribed percentage of its eligible payroll costs and tangible assets for the jurisdiction.
AFCA 2024-25 Annual Review – complaints high again
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority’s (AFCA) Annual Review showed that in the 2024–25 financial year, and for the second year in a row, AFCA has received more than 100,000 complaints. AFCA said that it knows many Australians continue to feel financially stretched and stressed – and behind every complaint we receive is a person seeking fairness and resolution in a time of uncertainty. It also said that in times of economic pressure, it’s critical that financial firms strengthen their internal dispute resolution processes and ensure resources are available to deal with disputes in a fair and timely manner.
SUPER & FINANCIAL SERVICES
Payday super reforms pass House of Representatives
Payday Super reforms have passed the House of Representatives. The Bills propose to change the superannuation guarantee (SG) payment frequency from quarterly to payday-based contributions from 1 July 2026.
Employers will need to pay SG in line with each pay run, with contributions required to be received by the member’s fund within 7 business days (extended to 20 business days in limited cases). The package also replaces SG statements with voluntary disclosure statements and introduces a new late-payment administrative penalty of 25% (50% for certain repeat cases).
Commencement of Aged Care reforms start tomorrow
The new Aged Care Act will commence tomorrow, 1 November 2025, introducing significant reforms to Residential Aged Care and Home Care.
Institute of Financial Professionals Australia (IFPA) comment
Existing aged care residents will continue to be covered under existing fee rules. A useful calculator to estimate residential aged care and homecare fees can be found on the myagedcare webpage.
Superannuation performance test to be calibrated
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has announced a new consultation on the superannuation performance test. Speaking at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Gala Dinner, Dr Chalmers said Treasury will form an industry working group to refine the test to better suit investments in housing and renewable energy.
CPI update: Inflation picks up, housing and power prices surge
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.3% in the September 2025 quarter, bringing annual inflation to 3.2%. A key driver was electricity prices which jumped 9.0% for the quarter and 23.6% over the year, as government rebates tapered off and annual price reviews kicked in. Property rates saw their biggest increase in over a decade, up 6.3%.
IFPA comment
Many tax and superannuation rates and thresholds are indexed to CPI and will be impacted by the increase when they are next adjusted.