Taxpayers are responsible for safely storing a written backup copy of their tax record in case the original electronic form becomes inaccessible or unreadable. In the event that your records have been damaged or destroyed, there are a number of ways you can reconstruct them.
Where the tax records are accidentally lost or destroyed from a burglary or fire, the ATO will allow a taxpayer to claim a deduction for certain expenses, provided that:
The taxpayer has a complete copy of a lost or destroyed document.
The ATO is satisfied that the taxpayer took reasonable precautions to avoid the loss or destruction of the form. If the tax record was a written document, it is not reasonably possible to attain a substitute document.
Taxpayers keep a record of these circumstances and inform the ATO in writing to back up the claim.
The ATO holds and can re-issue or supply copies of tax documents, such as:
Income tax returns.
Activity statements.
Notices of assessment.
If you have lost your TFN, you can still access your tax information by phoning the ATO. They will allow for other information to verify identity, such as an individual’s date of birth, address or bank account details.
If you are unable to substantiate claims made in your tax returns or activity statements because records have been lost or destroyed, the ATO can accept the claim without substantiation, where it is not reasonably possible to obtain the original documents.
Inactive low-balance accounts (ILBAs) are a new category account that needs to be reported and paid to the ATO. This was introduced in the Treasury Law Amendment (Protect Your Superannuation Package) Bill 2019 that came into effect on 1 July 2019 after first being announced in the 2018-19 Federal Budget.
ILBAs are designed to protect accounts from fee erosion. Where possible, the ATO will proactively consolidate super on behalf of an individual.
A superannuation account is considered an ILBA if the following criteria are met:
No amount has been received by the fund for crediting to that account for an individuals benefit within the last 16 months.
The account balance is less than $6,000.
A prescribed condition of release has not been met.
The account is not a defined benefit account.
There is no insurance on the account.
The account is not held in a self-managed super fund (SMSF) or small Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) fund.
Funds are required to identify ILBAs on 30 June and 31 December each year, then report and pay them to the ATO by the statement date.
31 October in the same year for accounts identified on 30 June.
30 April of the following year for accounts identified on 31 December.
Individuals that have an account that they do not want to be transferred to the ATO as an ILBA, can consolidate super accounts using ATO online services through myGov, contact their super fund for more information or authorise their super fund to provide a written declaration to the ATO.
