New accountability measures proposed for ABN holders

ABN holders will now be required to be more accountable and comply with income tax return obligations in order to keep their registration.

Originally announced in the 2018–19 Federal Budget, and now set out in draft legislation, are newly introduced accountability measures for ABN holders.

Once in effect, this will mean you will have to:

• lodge outstanding income tax returns, and
• confirm the accuracy of your entity's details on the Australian Business Registrar annually.

Currently, there are no registration penalties for ABN holders when it comes to lodging tax returns. That is, you can continue to quote an ABN regardless of whether you have lodged outstanding returns.

The regulator will now have the ability to cancel your ABN if you have 2 or more outstanding income tax returns for income years commencing on or after 1 July 2022. Also, the regulator will be able to cancel your ABN if you do not confirm the accuracy of your ABN details in an annual form on or after 1 July 2024.

If your ABN gets cancelled by one of these measures, the registrar must reinstate your ABN once the outstanding items have been resolved.

We are closely monitoring the progression of this draft legislation and once further information is provided by the Treasury, we will inform you of the specifics surrounding the legislation.

If you wish to discuss the contents of the draft legislation further, please do not hesitate to contact us.