The 2023-2024 tax season, by the numbers
We collate a handful of the key figures related to personal and business tax returns, and some of the more esoteric figures linked to the new financial year.
Everything about tax time comes down to the numbers, but some are a little more abstract than others. Here, we collate a handful of the key figures related to personal and business tax returns, and some of the more esoteric figures linked to the new financial year.
1
In years past, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has sent two SMS messages to taxpayers after they lodged a tax return: one to confirm receipt of the lodgment, and another to confirm when a refund has been paid. The ATO will not send the first message this time around. “This decision was made due to the prevalence of unsolicited SMS messages and it becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish a scam message from a legitimate one,” the ATO said last month.
8
The number of new rules placed upon accountants and bookkeepers, thanks to a controversial new directive from Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones. The Tax Practitioners Board, the organisation overseeing professional conduct in the sector, says the obligations largely follow existing requirements. However, accounting groups feared they could cause confusion and uncertainty. See 2,016 below for more information.
20%
Small businesses can claim a ‘bonus’ 20% deduction on eligible energy efficiency upgrades in their 2023-2024 tax returns, thanks to the Small Business Energy Incentive scheme.
21
Company directors subject to a Director Penalty Notice (DPN) have 21 days to remit the penalty as personal liability. They can do this by paying the outstanding company debt in full, or negotiating a suitable payment plan with the ATO. Past those 21 days, the DPN ‘locks’ onto the director, and the ATO is free to pursue recovery efforts.
30
Although individual taxpayers are technically free to lodge their tax returns from July 1, the ATO encourages taxpayers to wait several weeks, giving time for banks, employers, government agencies, and insurers to provide their pre-fill information. This year, the ATO gave the all-clear for taxpayers to file their simple returns on July 30.
400%
As the ATO intensifies its efforts to collect outstanding debts, many small businesses are having tough conversations about the future of their business. One relatively new option for struggling enterprises is the small business restructuring (SBR) pathway, which offers more control to company directors compared to the standard administration process. The pathway was hardly a hit on debut, but corporate insolvency firm Jirsch Sutherland says the number of SBRs has increased by 400% in the past year.
2,016
A petition calling on Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones to rethink rule changes affecting the accounting and bookkeeping sector attracted 2,016 signatures last month. Concerns from mum-and-dad accounting firms, and industry representative groups, led the Assistant Treasurer to push the rule changes into 2025, pending further consultation with industry participants.
2017
The federal government will give the ATO more discretion over the kinds of ‘on hold’ debts it must collect. Some debts are placed ‘on hold’ after being deemed too small, or too old, to recollect. However, the ATO began collecting some of those hibernating debts last year, causing serious concern to some taxpayers who didn’t even know the debts existed. Changes to legislation will give the ATO the ability not to recover ‘on hold’ debts racked up before January 1, 2017.
$20,000
The per-item limit for the Instant Asset Write-Off scheme for 2023-2024. Despite pushback from the Coalition, which wanted the small business tax break to expand, the federal government has also committed to the $20,000 limit for 2024-2025.
3 million
The approximate number of tax returns lodged between July 1, 2024, and July 23, 2024, a 1% increase compared to the year prior.
$32.5 billion
The rough value of collectable debt owed related to small businesses as of April this year. That figure is about 65% of the more than $50 billion owed, Commissioner of Taxation Rob Heferen said at the time.
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