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The tax gap is the ATO's estimate of the difference between the tax that would be paid if everyone complied fully with the law and the tax actually collected. It is expressed both in dollars and as a share of the tax that should …

Small and medium businesses that pay PAYG instalments each quarter could switch to monthly payments worked out inside their accounting software from 1 July 2027, under a plan the federal government released as draft legislation on 11 September 2026. With Parliament sitting from 12 …

Small businesses owed the ATO $35.9 billion in collectable debt in 2024–25, about two-thirds of the total, and the Auditor-General has found that the tax office's firmest debt-recovery tools were used in just 0.5% of its debt contacts with them. The findings, in a …

Anyone who charges a fee to prepare tax returns without being registered now faces possible criminal charges, under laws that, received Royal Assent on 15 September 2026 and commenced on 1 October. The changes also give the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) new sanctions, including …

Unit trusts used for property joint ventures and family businesses could find their tax status redrawn under the draft law for the government's 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts. Buried in the exposure draft released on 3 September 2026 is a new test for …

The federal government's 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts is expected to be introduced into Parliament in the sitting week that begins on Monday 12 October 2026, according to the National Tax & Accountants' Association (NTAA). The NTAA says the measures "should not proceed …

When the High Court ruled in June that an unpaid trust distribution owed to a family company is not automatically a "loan", it rejected a position the ATO had applied to private groups for well over a decade. With Parliament returning on 12 October …