Website domains and cyber security

Just recently in Australia a new category of domain names has been developed, known as ‘.au direct’. This will be a shorter domain name such as demobusiness.au, without having .com or .net required. This change commenced on 20 September 2022.

These new domain names will be in addition to existing domain names so if you have a website it is important you look into this as soon as possible in order to prevent another business from taking your domain name, or worst still cyber criminals registering the new domain and fraudulently impersonating your business. 

October also happens to be Cyber security month in Australia, and in addition to the above changes it is very important to ensure that you are keeping on top of software updates, are using Multi-factor authentication (MFA) and taking regular backups of data whether it be by external storage devices or cloud based solutions. 

STP Phase 2

Single Touch Payroll is undergoing some further developments by shifting to Phase 2 reporting. Although this came into effect on 1 January 2022 some payroll systems have obtained deferrals as they upgrade systems and business owners adapt to the changes. 

There are some changes to reporting for allowances, salary sacrifice reporting and the assignment of income types so it is important to get up to speed with these changes as soon as possible. 

The deferrals for MYOB, Reckon and Xero are below, if you are using alternate software please check with the provider;

MYOB: 1 January 2023 

Reckon: 1 January 2023

Xero: 31 March 2023 

Some further information may be found at this link.

TFN Declarations for new employees

New employees can now complete a TFN declaration using the ATO’s online services, rather than being prepared by the employer. This may prove helpful to any employers that are still using paper based TFN declarations. 

If your new employee has a MyGov account they can simply go to the ‘Employment’ menu in MyGov and select ‘New employment’. Importantly the employee will require the business ABN in order to submit the declaration. 

Once prepared, the employee will need to print or provide the summary to the employer for entry into the payroll system. 

Employees can then also use MyGov to update any changes in circumstances such as residency status, study loans or whether they are claiming the tax free threshold.

Reminder on Director ID’s

Just a reminder for anyone who is a Director of an Australian company that hasn’t yet registered for a Director ID, this will need to be done by no later than 30 November. Visit the ABRS website for all details.

If you would like to speak with anyone at Smith Thornton regarding this or any other matters please don’t hesitate to get in touch.