From 1 July, sole traders and contractors will be able to lodge their tax returns using myTax.
Kelly O’Dwyer, the Minister for Small Business and Assistant Treasurer, made the announcement saying it will give small businesses a “quicker and easier experience” when dealing with the Australian Tax Office (ATO).
O’Dwyer said, “We want to save businesses not only money but also time.”
Last year more than 1.7 million individuals lodged their tax returns using myTax and the expansion to sole traders and contractors will likely see 3 million people using the online system this year.
With this change, sole traders will be able to speed up their tax return process and access online tools to help manage the more complex aspects of the tax returns, said O’Dwyer, including personal services income, depreciation, and the small business income tax offset.
“Further to this, most of the information for myTax is pre-filled and can be accessed from almost any device connected to the internet,” explained O’Dwyer.
“I encourage all individuals and sole traders to try out myTax,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
MyTax is accessible to sole traders through their myGov account.
The change was first set on the Government’s agenda last year by Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan in a promise to make it easier for small businesses to lodge online.
Jordan said,“We are genuinely trying to give a better client experience to people – small businesses, individuals across the board. We’re cleaning up the website, making it easier for small business by putting it all in the one spot … We need to be more directly telling people our story because it’s a little bit difficult to get the good news out in terms of the broader media.”
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