Here is an update for all members regarding early morning Tax Scams and some small business essential tips from the ATO for this upcoming tax time.

Beware early morning tax scam e-mails & SMS designed to catch you off-guard

Be wary of tax scam emails, SMS and other communications this tax time, including those that arrive in your inbox overnight designed to catch you off-guard in the morning.

Scammers take advantage of any situation, and at tax time that means targeting unsuspecting individuals through unsolicited messages claiming to be the ATO or another reputable organisation.

The scammers know Australians will have tax on their mind and are vulnerable to prompts to act, which is why these messages usually create a sense of urgency or claim of significant refund. While they could come at any time, be especially careful opening and reading messages while you’re still waking up in the morning.

Scam emails seen include titles like: ‘Urgent new notification in your account inbox’. The messages direct individuals to log into their myGov account and claim to provide a secure link.

These messages try to trick individuals to click the link to see ‘official government correspondence’, an ‘update regarding your benefits’, ‘a new refund notification’ or they need to click to ‘avoid being penalised’.

They even encourage individuals to ‘keep checking your inbox to stay informed about important updates related to your tax, pension and other government services’.

How to spot tax time scams

Distinguishing between legitimate and scam messages from the ATO is becoming increasingly difficult, however there are signs:

• Look for any grammatical errors and unusual language. This could include American English spellings such as using ‘z’ instead of ‘s’ for certain words.

• The ATO does not use hyperlinks in unsolicited SMS messages. If you see any links in an unsolicited SMS or any QR codes in a message claiming to be from the ATO, treat it as a scam.

• When it comes to emails, check the sender’s address. Anything unusual is a red flag. If the address includes the acronym ATO or Australian Taxation Office in full, look for subtle anomalies like using a number, adding extra letters, or even removing a letter.

• Be wary of anyone making unexpected requests for personal or financial information, especially if they claim it’s urgent. The ATO will never ask for passwords, account numbers or other sensitive data by email or SMS.

• If you see a social media account claiming to be the ATO or myGov, look for the official logo and profile verification, such as the blue tick on Facebook and Instagram or grey tick on X. The ATO will never discuss your personal ATO account on any social media platform, including private messages.

• If you’re still unsure, you should always verify if the contact is legitimate by contacting the ATO on 1800 008 540 or by visiting the verify or report scam page on the official ATO website.

Late 2024, the ATO launched ‘Getting it right’. This is their ongoing quarterly campaign which aims to support small businesses to get it right from the start.

The ATO acknowledge that most small businesses try to do the right thing, and they want to better support them and their advisers. Each quarter they are sharing specific risk areas they are focusing on. These are based on the issues found through their intelligence. They share what is concerning them while acting against businesses that are deliberately avoiding their obligations.

• Contractors omitting income. The ATO are seeing contractors such as building and construction, cleaning, courier and road freight incorrectly report or omit their contractor income. If member stores work as a contractor and provide any of these services, the business you contract to will report payments to the ATO on their taxable payments annual report (TPAR). These payments are income and need to be included as income on your tax return.

• Small business boost measures. This relates to the small business skills and training boost and the small business technology investment boost. The ATO are seeing some small businesses incorrectly claim boost measures due to errors or misunderstanding of the law. If your store has claimed either boost measure and believe you don’t meet the eligibility criteria or have made an error, the ATO encourage you to speak to your accountant to amend your tax return.

• Shift from quarterly to monthly reporting. If a small business has a history of failing to comply with their tax obligations, the ATO will move them from quarterly to monthly reporting as part of their corrective action.

• The ATO’s Ready for Business campaign, which is about supporting new small businesses set up good practices, so you get it right from the start (ato.gov.au/sbfocusareas)