September 2025 Newsletter
Contents:
- ATO Makes Changes to Tax Debts on Hold
- Penalty and Overtime Legislation Explained
- Agricultural Innovation Australia – New Emissions Platform
- SMSFs – Ageing and it’s Financial Challenges
- Failure to Pay Minimum Pension Just Got More Costly
- Australia Faces a Silent Epidemic of Bullying
- Announcements
ATO Makes Changes to Tax Debts on Hold
As of 1 August 2025, the ATO will progressively include debts placed on hold in account balances, not including debts placed on hold before 1 January 2017.
“A debt on hold is a tax debt we have paused taking actions to collect. We may place a debt on hold if we decide it’s not cost effective to collect the debt at the time,” the ATO said.
It was noted that while a debt was on hold, it may not appear in an account balance; the ATO would not try and collect it despite it remaining due and legally payable and could be offset with any entitled credits or refunds.
Penalty and Overtime Legislation Explained
These changes are intended to prevent the Fair Work Commission (FWC) from making changes to Modern Awards, which would result in the reduction, replacement or removal of penalty rates or overtime rates, to the extent that the change would reduce the pay those employees would otherwise receive.
Agricultural Innovation Australia – New Emissions Platform
As mandatory sustainability reporting requirements take effect this year, Agricultural Innovation Australia has released a new environmental accounting platform.
Agricultural Innovation Australia (AIA) has developed a multi-disciplinary environmental accounting platform (EAP), designed to ready Australia’s agriculture industries for future market access requirements.
“Producers, mixed enterprises and corporate farming entities will be able to access trusted emissions calculations through providers and tools utilising the EAP engine or code,” AIA CEO, Sam Brown, said
SMSFs – Ageing and it’s Financial Challenges
Our clients are getting older. I guess we all are. But in an SMSF, older clients face different challenges. One we’re being asked about a lot at the moment in particular goes something like this:
An example:
Ted is 80, a widower. He’s the only member of his SMSF and it owns a property worth $2.4m (the fund bought it a while ago for $1.7m). It has been a strong performer for him in terms of growth (around 5% pa over the long term) and income has typically been around 3% pa (after costs).
Australia Faces a Silent Epidemic of Bullying
Bullying isn’t just a schoolyard problem – new research shows it is a widespread, hidden issue affecting seven in 10 Australians.
A new national study has shed light on the widespread problem of workplace bullying in Australia, showing it significantly affects mental health, workplace culture, and productivity.
The research, conducted by Bully Zero, found that seven in 10 Australians (71 per cent) have experienced bullying at some point in their lives, while nearly one in three (31 per cent) reported being bullied in the past year.
Announcements:
This month we congratulate Nicole (11) on achieving a significant work anniversary with us. We also wish a very Happy Birthday to Rebecca (Bec)!|
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Important ATO Dates
| Lodgement Program | Date |
| Taxable payments annual report (Building & Construction services; Cleaning services; Courier or Road freight; Information Technology; Security, Investigation or Surveillance services) | 28/08/25 |
| August monthly activity statements | 21/09/25 |
Other News
ATO Issuing Default Assessments
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) prefers to help taxpayers meet their lodgment obligations, but if those obligations are overdue, the ATO can issue a default assessment.
A default assessment is an estimate of your taxable income or net amount for overdue tax returns or activity statements. The ATO can apply a significant administrative penalty of 75% of the tax-related liability, which can increase to 90% in cases of repeated non-compliance. An additional penalty for failing to lodge on time may also apply.
Xero Me App Changes – Passkeys required on the Xero Me app from 8th September 2025
Starting Monday, 8th September 2025, everyone using Xero Me will need a passkey to access their account.
A passkey is a secure way to log in using your fingerprint or face recognition instead of a password – it’s faster and more secure than typing in a password or a code.
If an employee doesn’t have a passkey set up by 8th September, they’ll be logged out and will need to complete the setup before they can get back in.
Setting up a passkey is simple – employees just need to log out of the Xero Me app and log back in. They’ll be prompted to set up their passkey during the login process, which takes less than a minute to complete.
For detailed step-by-step instructions, check out our Xero Central guide.