The Australian Taxation Office is urging all businesses and individuals to take care in relation to avoiding the risk of fraud.
With a focus on criminals lodging fraudulent returns in order to obtain unwarranted refunds through accessing banking information that is not their own, the ATO recommends businesses and individuals practice the following:
Discussions with staff and clients
Keep your employees and your clients about safe behaviours to protect them from being vulnerable to criminals, such as not clicking on downloads, hyperlinks or opening attachments in unsolicited emails.
Protection on devices
Ensuring the devices you use for confidential information such as transferring funds and purchasing goods and services are all up to date with protective software, such as malware detectors and firewalls. Also, ensure autofill forms are not saved or used.
Proof of identity
Before taking on new clients, ensure they provide numerous pieces of proof of identity. You should also question discrepancies before lodging their tax returns.
Internal security
Ensure all employees have access to only what they need in order to perform their role within the company. When employees cease employment, cancel their AUSkeys.
Consolidating your super can save you time and money. Consolidating your super means that rather than having multiple different accounts, all your super is in one account.
Why you should consolidate your super:
Choosing to consolidate your super means that you will no longer be paying fees to multiple super funds.
There is also less paperwork to complete each time
You will be able to track your super more easily
Before you consolidate your super:
Consider how changing super funds affects employer contributions: Certain employers may contribute more to one fund than another. In which case, you should consider switching to the fund that your employer is most compatible with.
Consider how changing super funds impacts insurance you have through the fund: Changing funds might mean you no longer receive benefits of the insurance. Double checking the details of this is particularly important if you have a pre-existing medical condition or you are aged 60 or over.
Inform your employer of any change in details they may need, to pay to your chosen super account.
Don’t simply choose the account with the highest balance. Rather, take into consideration the performance of that super fund, the fees you are required to pay, whether it is linked to any insurance and any other factors. Upon reviewing this, you may find that rather than choosing between your current super funds, starting with a completely new fund might be the best way to go.
How to consolidate to one of your current super funds:
Create an account on the myGov website
Link your myGov account to the ATO
Go to ‘Super’ and then ‘Manage’
Select ‘Transfer Super’
Transferring to a new fund
In the case you decide that transferring to a new fund is the best option, you can consolidate either by contacting the new fund directly, or using an ATO rollover form.
