Audit Insurance. Why would you have it?
Audit insurance provides you and your business with protection from the cost of accountancy fees when responding to audits, reviews and investigations by the Australian Tax Office (‘ATO’) and state based revenue agencies, such as the State Revenue Office.
Should you or your business be subject to any form of audit, having audit insurance gives you the peace of mind that as your accountants we can co-ordinate and correspond with the ATO to ensure that the process is as smooth as possible, with no additional professional fees.
Clients who have taken out audit insurance are covered for costs incurred for professional fees should an audit, review or investigation be conducted in regards to the following:
- Income Tax, Land Tax and Payroll Tax
- BAS/GST
- Workers Compensation
- Superannuation Guarantee and Compliance
- Self Managed Super Funds
- Fringe Benefits Tax
- Record Keeping
- Research and Development Grants
We have recently had a client that was selected by the Australian Tax Office for a basic GST review. As this particular client had a current audit insurance policy the professions fees incurred of $2,746 were covered. The client did not have to pay any additional fee nor will their premium change in future income years. This insurance claim well outweighed the clients’ annual audit insurance policy fee, which is 100% tax deductible.
It has recently been announced that for the 2010/11 financial year the ATO will data match more than 500 million transactions to ensure taxpayers are declaring all income and are expected to take action on more than 17,500 employee superannuation complaints. In addition the ATO is undertaking more GST audits and reviews than ever before.
If you are interested in taking out an audit insurance policy, or should you have any queries please feel free to give us a call.