Withholding for foreign residents: an ATO focus area
Share this article:
The ATO is currently focusing on ensuring that taxpayers are aware of their obligations regarding treatment of withholding amounts and amount paid to foreign residents.
.
If your business or investment structure make payments such as interest, dividends or royalties to any foreign residents, you may be required to withhold tax from these payments.
If these withholding requirements apply to you, you’ll need to lodge a PAYG annual report or an annual investment income report, and withhold and pay the correct amount of tax.
This is important as the withholding tax obligation arises whether you make the payment to the foreign resident, credit their account, or deal with the payment on their behalf or at their direction.
There are a number of exemptions that apply, but this can be technical in operation, so it’s recommended to seek advice specific to your circumstances if you make any payments to non-residents.
The ATO is alert to payers who have not withheld and paid amounts (or have withheld and paid incorrect amounts), incorrectly relied on an exemption or treaty relief, or misclassified deductions for interest or royalty payments to an offshore entity.
Philippa commenced work at McKinnon & Co in 1982. In her spare time she enjoys looking after her beef cattle enterprise, equestrian activities, and spending time with family.
Stephen Klaproth
Senior Accountant
Education: Bachelor of Commerce – Major Accounting & Finance, USQ.
Qualifications: CA
Stephen works in our business services areas as well as assisting with Audits. On the weekend he enjoys the Tablelands outdoor lifestyle.
Chloe Bidner
Senior Accountant
Education: Bachelor of Business – Major Accounting, JCU.
Qualifications: CPA, Xero Advisor Certified.
Chloe works part time at McKinnon & Co predominantly in Business Services. When she is not at McKinnons, she works in her family business – FNQ Honey & Bees
Margaret Blakey
Senior Accountant
Education: Diploma of Financial Planning (Financial Services)
Qualifications: JP
Margaret commenced accounting in 1990, and has experience in the accounting, finance, banking and financial services sectors. In her spare time, she competes in dance sport ballroom dancing, as well as spending time with her family.
Leanne Johnston
Accountant. Manager of BAS, Payroll & Bookkeeping Department.
Education: Bachelor of Business – Major Accounting, USQ.
Qualifications: Xero Advisor Certified. Diploma In Accounting.
Leanne has recently completed her accounting degree and is looking to expand her knowledge with further study. In her spare time, she enjoys horse riding and planning travel adventures.
Valerie Orreal
Manager of SMSF Department.
Education: Bachelor of Science, JCU
Qualifications: Diploma of Family History
Valerie looks after all aspects of SMSFs. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, camping and beach trips.
Alison Richardson
Client Service Assistant
Alison started at McKinnon’s back in 1981 and is our longest serving employee, providing integral support to the office and our clients. She loves spending time with her family and spoiling her grandchildren.
Rebecca Setford
Receptionist
Bec helps manage the day-to-day operations of our front office. She enjoys working hard and learning new skills. Outside of work she is a keen gym enthusiast.
Georgia Barbagallo
Receptionist
Our newest team member Georgia is enjoying learning the running of our front office. She is also studying Education and enjoys spending time with her adorable sausage dogs.
Accounting, Tax & Compliance
The right advice can make a significant difference to the bottom line of your business. Our team can take the complexity out of tax.
We take the time to understand the current situation and future direction of each client. Our experienced staff will develop a range of services tailored to suit your needs.
We can provide advice and support on a range of areas such as:
We provide a comprehensive service, assisting in all aspects of your fund’s administration including all the paperwork, reporting and support in complying with super and tax laws.
We’ll support you in the administration of your fund by:
Processing investment paperwork throughout the year.
Consulting with share registries.
Corresponding with the ATO.
Processing paperwork and calculations in relation to the commencement and maintenance of pensions.
Preparing trustees’ minutes.
Preparing year-end financial statements.
Preparing and lodging the fund’s annual income tax and regulatory return.
Preparing and lodging the TBAR reports as required.
Preparing the fund minutes
Organising annual actuarial certificate and other documents as required.
We provide high quality auditing services to help ensure that our clients meet regulatory and business requirements.
We are committed to providing independent, comprehensive, effective and efficient auditing. They have the knowledge and experience necessary to help you with all your financial reporting and accounting issues.
We provide auditing services for the following areas:
We provide a range of options to meet your individual bookkeeping needs and ensure you are complying with all your reporting requirements. We work with a range of software’s and are happy to assist with whichever program you feel most comfortable with. Services we provide include:
Payroll Processing and support.
Superannuation processing – ensuring all staff super guarantee obligations met on time.
Preparation and lodgement of Monthly & Quarterly Business Activity Statements.
Secure File Transfer is a facility that allows the safe and secure exchange of confidential files or documents between you and us.
Email is very convenient in our business world, there is no doubting that. However email messages and attachments can be intercepted by third parties, putting your privacy and identity at risk if used to send confidential files or documents. Secure File Transfer eliminates this risk.
Login to Secure File Transfer, or contact us if you require a username and password.
The material on this website has been prepared for general information purposes only and not as specific advice to any particular person. Any advice contained on the website is General Advice and does not take into account any person’s individual investment objectives, financial situation or needs.
Before making an investment decision based on this advice you should consider whether it is appropriate to your particular circumstances, alternatively seek professional advice.
Privacy Policy
McKinnon & Co is committed to providing quality services to you and this policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect of how we manage your Personal Information.
We have adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). The NPPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of your Personal Information.
A copy of the Australian Privacy Principles may be obtained from the website of The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at https://www.oaic.gov.au/.
What is Personal Information and why do we collect it?
Personal Information is information or an opinion that identifies an individual. Examples of Personal Information we collect includes names, addresses, email addresses, phone and facsimile numbers.
This Personal Information is obtained in many ways including correspondence, by telephone and facsimile, by email, via our website www.mckinnonandco.com.au, from your website, from media and publications, from other publicly available sources, from cookies and from third parties. We don't guarantee website links or policy of authorised third parties.
We collect your Personal Information for the primary purpose of providing our services to you, providing information to our clients and marketing. We may also use your Personal Information for secondary purposes closely related to the primary purpose, in circumstances where you would reasonably expect such use or disclosure. You may unsubscribe from our mailing/marketing lists at any time by contacting us in writing.
When we collect Personal Information we will, where appropriate and where possible, explain to you why we are collecting the information and how we plan to use it.
Sensitive Information
Sensitive information is defined in the Privacy Act to include information or opinion about such things as an individual's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal record or health information.
Sensitive information will be used by us only:
For the primary purpose for which it was obtained
For a secondary purpose that is directly related to the primary purpose
With your consent; or where required or authorised by law.
Third Parties
Where reasonable and practicable to do so, we will collect your Personal Information only from you. However, in some circumstances we may be provided with information by third parties. In such a case we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to us by the third party.
Disclosure of Personal Information
Your Personal Information may be disclosed in a number of circumstances including the following:
Third parties where you consent to the use or disclosure; and
Where required or authorised by law.
Security of Personal Information
Your Personal Information is stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorized access, modification or disclosure.
When your Personal Information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your Personal Information. However, most of the Personal Information is or will be stored in client files which will be kept by us for a minimum of 7 years.
Access to your Personal Information
You may access the Personal Information we hold about you and to update and/or correct it, subject to certain exceptions. If you wish to access your Personal Information, please contact us in writing.
McKinnon & Co will not charge any fee for your access request, but may charge an administrative fee for providing a copy of your Personal Information.
In order to protect your Personal Information we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.
Maintaining the Quality of your Personal Information
It is an important to us that your Personal Information is up to date. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that your Personal Information is accurate, complete and up-to-date. If you find that the information we have is not up to date or is inaccurate, please advise us as soon as practicable so we can update our records and ensure we can continue to provide quality services to you.
Policy Updates
This Policy may change from time to time and is available on our website.
Privacy Policy Complaints and Enquiries
If you have any queries or complaints about our Privacy Policy please contact us at:
