Risk Management Guide for Small Business

As a business owner you need to be aware of the risks (and not just financial ones) associated with your business. The NSW Department of State and Regional Development have made a free Risk Management Guide available.

The guide can help you identify risks to your business and meet legislative and regulatory requirements in the areas of:

- occupational health and safety
- fair trading
- contracts
- insurance

To read the guide online or download a free PDF version to your own computer, you can head directly to the Risk Management Guide at the NSW Small Business site by clicking here.

Super Contributions Due Soon

REMINDER:

If your business employs staff, you will need to make your Quarter 1 superannuation guarantee contributions by 28 October 2007.

Tax Office Announces External Debt Collection Panel

Source: ATO Media Release 2007/48

The Tax Office today announced the appointment of a panel of external collection agencies to assist with the collection of debt, including tax debts over two years old and employer superannuation guarantee charge debt.

Acting Tax Commissioner Jennie Granger said the appointments follow a successful 3 month trial conducted in 2006, which resulted in $21 million in outstanding debt being collected.

“We do understand there are situations when it can be difficult to pay an outstanding debt. What is really important is that people contact us as early as possible so we can agree on a suitable arrangement to get them back on track,” Ms Granger said.

“The panel will help us follow up more quickly and encourage people and businesses to pay their debts.

“Some of the debt to be referred for collection will be superannuation money owed to employees so will help protect retirement savings,” Ms Granger said.

The Tax Office was allocated an additional $42 million over four years in this year’s federal budget to establish and pay for the services of the panel, and expects to commence referring parcels of debt for collection activity towards the end of 2007.

The panel is required to adhere to strict privacy and professionalism guidelines and will have to report back to the Tax Office monthly on their progress and adherence to these guidelines. They will also need to meet all Commonwealth secrecy and privacy requirements.

“Our debt collection strategies, including the establishment of this panel are about fairness and creating a level playing field for everyone.

“I encourage anyone experiencing difficulties to contact us as soon as possible on 13 11 42 and we will work with them to clear any tax debt before it becomes unmanageable,” Ms Granger said.

Business Encouraged to Reassess Attitutes to Mature Workers

Today sees the release of the Mature Age Employment Practical Guide, an online, one-stop resource for employing people over 45 in Australia.

The guide is designed to address the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. It includes information on how to find and keep experienced, older workers and what HR policies and practices employers need to implement to respond to the smaller, older workforce.

The message is, if you don't keep your older workers you're heading for trouble.

“The country can’t afford to retire its most experience workers. We simply do not have queues of similarly experienced workers waiting in the wings,” Minister Stone said today in a media release.

“As the population ages, and the generations following the baby boomers continue to shrink, Australian businesses need to reassess their attitudes to mature age workers. Successful businesses will be those who retain older workers.

According to Dr Stone, “Businesses must appreciate the importance and financial benefits of keeping or recruiting mature age staff to meet their skills needs."

Tax Help and Equine Influenza

The Tax Office is offering assistance to businesses directly affected by equine influenza and the resulting quarantine measures.

Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo has reassured people affected that we will work with them during this difficult time to help them meet their tax obligations.

“We understand that equine influenza has directly affected the income of many people involved in the horse and related industries,” Mr D’Ascenzo said.

“Anyone who is having problems meeting their tax obligations should call us as soon as possible on 13 11 42 so we can make arrangements to suit their individual circumstances.

Your tax agent can also contact the ATO on your behalf.

Remember, even if you can’t pay the amount owning in your activity statement, it’s important to make every attempt to lodge it by the due date.

Tax Dobbers Turn on Bosses

The Daily Telegraph yesterday reported that more than 120 people a day turned informant on their bosses, neighbours and even former lovers last financial year to accuse them of tax fraud through a confidential hotline.

Over the past three years a whopping 140,616 Australians called the Tax Evasion Hotline to accuse others of cheating on their tax. It seems the ATO are keen to follow up on these leads with more than $4.4 million in lost revenue already identified as a result of the information supplied in 2006-07.

Businesses failing to report cash income was the most common tax evasion practice followed by paying cash-in-hand wages.

Fax Spamming - Have Your Say

We receive a fair amount of "junk mail" via our fax machine. Most of the time, the interuption is minimal and I give it little thought. However, it does interupt productivity, uses our print resources and ties up the fax machine... none of this leaves me with a positive impression of the sender.

How do you feel about commercial fax spam? Should the Government take action to reduce the volume of unsolicited commercial faxes?

The Business Consultation website is asking for businesses to provide comments on a consultation regarding unsolicited commercial fax messaging. The closing date for comments and submissions is 17 September 2007 and businesses are able to submit their answers online.

While you are at the website you can register your interest to be consulted on government policy or regulation affecting business and also view current and archived public consultations.