Tax Audit Insurance

Audits, enquiries, investigations and reviews are conducted by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and other federal, state and territory government agencies to ensure business and tax payer compliance with various tax and legislative requirements. These include Income Tax, Land and Payroll Tax, GST, FBT, Record Keeping, Workers Compensation, Employer Obligations, Superannuation Guarantee and Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) Compliance, amongst others.

The government has proposed a 55% increase in audit funding over the next four years. A target of $3.7 billion is anticipated for the gross revenue that will be raised as a result. So what does this mean for you? We suspect an increase in audit activity in relation to individual, business and SMSF lodged returns.

Our recommendations to combat the increase in audit activity

1. Be in the know

Gain a better understanding of your financial position and tax particulars by talking with your accountant. Your accountant can also conduct a risk assessment, and in doing so you could both discover a better way to structure your affairs. 

2. Seek expert advice

In the event that you are contacted by the ATO or other government revenue agencies, the best action for you to take is to advise them that you would firstly like to talk to your accountant. Your accountant will have experience in dealing with these matters and will be more likely to reduce the time and cost required to attend to the audit activity in question.

3. Consider Audit Shield

Duesburys Accountants & Advisors offers an Audit Shield service which can provide you with comprehensive relief from the associated costs (fees) of audit activity. The Audit Shield service provides for the payment of our professional fees incurred as a result of you being selected for an audit, review or investigation by the ATO or other government body. The Audit Shield service provides:

•  A fixed, cost effective solution to guard against these unbudgeted costs
• Coverage for current and previous years providing cover is in place at the time of receiving the audit notification
• One policy to cover all associated trading entities & individuals (excludes SMSF's which must hold their own policy)
• A comprehensive policy structure underwritten by AAI Limited trading as Vero Insurance (a subsidiary of The Suncorp Group)

To find out more about the benefits of having tax audit insurance contact us today.