If your Central Coast business pays contractors or subcontractors, the Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR) is one of those ATO obligations that is easy to miss until the deadline is suddenly close. Here is what it actually involves.

1. What is a TPAR?

A TPAR is an annual report that tells the ATO how much you have paid contractors and subcontractors during the financial year. It exists so the ATO can check that contractors are declaring the same income on their own tax returns.

2. Which industries need to lodge?

TPAR mainly applies to building and construction, cleaning, courier and road freight, information technology, and security or investigation services. If your business pays contractors in any of these industries, there is a good chance you need to lodge.

3. How do you know if you need to lodge?

For building and construction businesses, . For the other industries listed above, the threshold is lower, generally around 10% of income. If you are not sure where your business sits, it is worth checking rather than guessing.

4. What happens if you miss the deadline?

TPAR is due by 28 August each year. Missing it can result in a failure to lodge penalty, and the amount generally increases the longer the report is outstanding. It is a straightforward report once you have the numbers together, so there is little reason to let it slide.

5. What information do you need to report?

For each contractor, you will generally need their name, ABN, and the total amount you paid them for the year, including GST. Keeping this information up to date throughout the year, rather than reconstructing it at deadline time, makes the whole process much easier.

6. How can a bookkeeper help?

We handle TPAR for a number of trade and contracting clients across the Central Coast as part of their ongoing bookkeeping. We can tell you whether your business needs to lodge, get your contractor payment records in order, and lodge the report before the deadline. Get in touch if you would like us to check where you stand.