Small Business – Lodgment Penalty Amnesty Program
On 9 May 2023 as part of the 2023-24 Budget, the government announced a lodgement penalty amnesty program for small businesses to encourage re-engagement with the tax system to get tax obligations up-to-date.
A lodgement penalty amnesty program is being provided for small businesses with aggregate turnover of less than $10 million to encourage them to re-engage with the tax system.
The amnesty will remit failure-to-lodge penalties for outstanding tax statements lodged in the period from 1 June 2023 to 31 December 2023 that were originally due during the period from 1 December 2019 to 28 February 2022.
If those returns are lodged between 1 June 2023 and 31 December 2023, any failure to lodge a penalty applying to the late lodgement will be automatically remitted. No action is required to request a remission.
To be eligible for the amnesty the small business must, at the time of lodgment, be an entity with an aggregated turnover of less than $10 million.
This does not apply to privately owned groups, or individuals controlling over $5 million of net wealth.