Operators in some Australian industries as well as select government entities are required by the ATO to lodge a taxable payments annual report (TPAR). These reports let the ATO know about payments that are made to contractors for providing services. Contractors can include subcontractors, consultants and independent contractors, and they can be operating as sole traders (individuals), companies, partnerships or trusts.
The TPAR system was initially introduced to address longstanding compliance issues the ATO had identified in the tax affairs of contractors in the building and construction industry.
Tax compliance issues that were identified included non-lodgement of tax returns, income being omitted from tax returns that were lodged, non-compliance with goods and services tax (GST) obligations, failure to quote an Australian business number (ABN), and use of an invalid ABN.
Building and construction service providers have been required to lodge TPARs since 1 July 2012, and operators in this industry are expected to lodge a TPAR by 28 August each year covering payments made over the most recent financial year (for example, the TPAR due in August 2019 will report payments made from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019).
But the system has since been extended to include other industries. Initially these included cleaning services and courier services, and later was extended to road freight services, IT service providers, and security, investigation or surveillance services.
The periods covered, and the due dates for each, are as follows: Readmore
