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InFocus August 2024 - Volume 33 Issue 6

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Registered Agents: stay compliant with ASIC

If you’re an ASIC Registered Agent, you may be appointed and authorised by registered Australian companies to receive notifications on their behalf. This includes Annual Statements Packages (ASP) which must be retrieved within 14 days of the annual review dates.

Under the ASIC Registered Agent Terms & Conditions (RA T&Cs), all ASIC registered agents need to ensure:

  • the timely retrieval of ASPs, and
  • that company officeholders receive, review, and make payments promptly.

To avoid compliance action, these obligations (refer to clause 4.10 of RA T&Cs) must be completed.

For more information about registered agents, visit our website.

Industry funding - submit your industry funding annual return now!

The ASIC industry funding annual return for 2023-24 is now available for entities to review and complete.

Entities that have industry funding obligations have been sent correspondence with instructions on how to submit the industry funding annual return. Entities must log in to their ASIC Regulatory Portal account and submit the information requested in the annual return by 25 September 2024.

Regulated entities that have not created an ASIC regulatory portal account will receive correspondence to the registered office address, including a unique ‘security key’, which is needed to create an account. If you did not receive your correspondence during July/August, see our FAQ’s in the ASIC Regulatory Portal for other ways to register and log on.

For more information on industry funding, visit our website. 

How to request a refund for a credit on your account

If you’ve made a payment in error, or an overpayment, you can request a refund for the credit balance on your account. Generally, we'll provide a refund in the same way the payment was made.

Refunds for payments made in full via BPAY
If you’ve paid via BPAY and require the full amount to be refunded, contact your bank or financial institution to reverse the payment. It’s the responsibility of the bank or financial institution to reverse all BPAY errors to ensure the payment is returned to the correct account.

Refunds for overpayments via BPAY or full payments via Australia Post, EFT or Cheque
If you’ve overpaid a fee via BPAY, or made a full payment via Australia Post, EFT or cheque and require a refund, email refundenquiries@ASIC.gov.au and include the company name and A.C.N. or account number.

To ensure we’re refunding to the correct party, you’ll need to provide proof of payment via a:

  • bank receipt,
  • bank statement or
  • transaction history.

Note: We’re unable to refund to a credit card account. 

For privacy, ensure all transactions are blacked out but the following are still visible:

  • name on the bank account,
  • BSB and
  • account number.

Find out more about refunds on our website.

Foreign companies: your lodgement obligations

A foreign company registered in Australia has obligations to lodge financial statements with us every calendar year. The time between financial statements can’t be more than 15 months.

New Zealand companies registered as foreign entities in Australia can utilise the Form 405 through NZCO, otherwise, they can lodge directly with us.

Late fees apply if documents are lodged outside of the lodging period. Non-compliance by registered foreign companies may result in ASIC initiated deregistration.

To avoid compliance action, take urgent steps to prepare and lodge the necessary financial reports as soon as possible.

For further details on foreign company obligations, refer to our website.

Find your lost money

ASIC is responsible for handling all unclaimed monies from:

  • authorised deposit taking institutions,
  • life insurance companies
  • benefit fund friendly societies, and
  • companies with unclaimed money/property.

There are changes to the Commonwealth unclaimed money laws, relating to the time money may be identified as unclaimed. This means some money may be identified as unclaimed after seven years (previously three years).

Find your lost money by using Moneysmart's Unclaimed money search.

For more information on unclaimed money, visit the ASIC website.

New courses added to the ATO’s online learning platform for small business

Expand your business knowledge with new courses added to the Australian Taxation Office’s online learning platform Essentials to strengthen your small business.

Learn more about:

  • concessions,
  • personal services income,
  • losses,
  • reporting payments made to contractors,
  • capital gains tax and
  • fringe benefits tax – minor exempt benefits.

There are now nearly 30 self-paced courses containing accurate, timely information to improve your tax and super knowledge and day-to-day business and financial understanding.

Last updated: 02/08/2024 04:25