Tuesday, February 19, 2019

"Last week top ex-ATO official Michael Cranston was found not guilty of misusing his position to benefit his son... Mr Cranston’s evidence confirms what we have been saying for years—namely, that the ATO audit process, outcomes and appeals are systemically bad and flawed. Mr Cranston had to fix bad audits for high-wealth individuals...."
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Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Today the government announced that the Small Business Tax Tribunal will start up on the 1 March 2019—just two weeks away. This is huge. We continue to see bad ATO small business audits and an ATO incapable of quickly fixing glaring audit errors. It’s fabulous to see the government responding quickly and with a practical solution to start up immediately.....
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Friday, February 1, 2019

Yes, we have focused heavily on seeking reform of the Australian Taxation Office in recent times. But the issue is not simply about tax revenue. It’s much bigger. It’s about the rule of law....
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Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Bill Shorten’s Labor has announced that it will make unfair contract terms illegal and impose major fines for breaches. This is a position that Self-Employed Australia totally endorses. ...
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We monitor self-employment news from around the world. Full list
here.
Big breakthrough in ATO treatment of small business people
Coalition government announces Small Business Tax Tribunal. This is a hugely important breakthrough
Key features:
- Be totally separate from ATO.
- Not involve lawyers.
- Appoint a case manager to support the taxpayer.
- Make decisions within 28 days of a hearing.
- Require a payment of $500 from the taxpayer for each appeal.
And
- If the ATO appeals the AAT decisions to the Federal Court, the ATO will pay the small businesses’ reasonable costs.
- If there are test cases where lawyers are used, the ATO pays for the taxpayers’ lawyers.
Our commentary
here.
ALP also looking to reform ATO
Our commentary
here. Full story
here. This includes history of our campaigning, submissions, case studies, etc.
Defend the right to be self-employed
Public sector bureaucracies along with unions are wanting to close down the right to be self-employed. We have seen these attacks before such as:
- Contractors are ‘dependent’.
- Sham contracting is rife.
See our responses on these arguments in 2011.
See our success at the International Labour Organisation in 2006.
And now the new attack is against the ‘gig economy’.
We have new campaigns on our hands!
Self-employment challenges managerial orthodoxy
The supposed ‘rise’ of the ‘gig’ economy is causing much debate on whether its impacts are good or evil for society. But that debate is not new. In 2005, SEA's Executive Director, Ken Phillips, published his challenging book,
Independence and the Death of Employment, in which he examined the fundamental changes that were occurring, even then, in the way we work and how notions about independence and the role of the commercial contract were fundamental to them. The Introduction to the book is available
here. Recent arguments about the ‘gig’ economy have
refired that debate.
Is your contract fair?
SEA can rightly claim huge success in achieving Unfair Contract protections for small business people. New protective legislation came into effect in November 2016—a world's first for self-employed people. Resources for checking your own contract are
here.
Join Self Employed Australia
Protected Member
Professional defence against ATO investigation of your
- Income Tax
- Personal Services Income
- GST liabilities
- Company tax
- ABN denial/cancellation
Professional assistance if you believe you have an unfair contract.
Full details
here
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