The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has confirmed more than 60,000 businesses haven’t yet complied with lodgement requirements under the Taxable payments reporting system (TPRS) for 2019-20.

The TPRS is designed for to help the ATO find contractors who don’t report or under-report their income.

ATO assistant commissioner Peter Holt explains that the Black Economy Taskforce estimated that the black economy is costing the community as much as $50 billion, which is approximately three percent of GDP.

He adds that it’s not just businesses that pay contractors in the building and construction industry that need to lodge a TPAR. 2020 was the first year that businesses that pay contractors to provide road freight, information technology, security, investigation or surveillance services may need to lodge a TPAR with the ATO.

“As any good tradie will tell you, the spirit level is a critical tool to ensure construction work is being done on the level,” Peter explains.

“I like to think of the TPRS as a bit of a spirit level for tax obligations. Our role is to make sure the ‘bubble’ is centred as much as possible to keep things on the level and fair for everyone.”

Businesses who have not yet lodged need to lodge as soon as possible, to avoid penalties as forms were due to be lodged by 28 August 2020 and are now well overdue.