By Anand Shukla
Last year, the ATO had confirmed that all Uber drivers and other similar ride-sharing services had until the 1st of August 2015 to apply for an ABN and to register themselves for GST to avoid significant penalties and audits.
This meant that all Uber drivers and other similar ride-sharing services has to lodge quarterly business activity statements, report their income in their tax returns and pay GST on their income even if they fall under the $75,000 turnover threshold. This is due to the service being conducted falls under ‘taxi travel’ services.
The ATO has collected payment information from banks and other financial institutions in regards to payments made to up to 15,000 drivers and are now identifying any drivers who are not registered for GST and are not paying their taxes.
Failure of not being registered by the 1st of August 2015 results in penalties and additional penalties if they fail to lodge their business activity statements. Not only does this mean that Uber drivers may have to pay GST on their quarterly income, but Uber users has had an increase of 10% in the fares to cover the tax.
To avoid any penalties give us at A One Accountants a call and we will register you for GST and provide you with an ABN on the same day!