InFocus November 2023 - Volume 32 Issue 9
- The difference between Industry Funding and non-lodgement of financial reports activities
- Attention ASIC registered agents: meeting the eligibility requirements
- Do you lodge your own tax return?
The difference between Industry Funding and non-lodgement of financial reports activities
ASIC Industry Funding and non-lodgement of financial reports (Form 388) are two separate yearly compliance activities.
Industry funding metrics (IFM) are aimed at recovering the costs of ASIC’s regulatory activity from entities in the sectors that create the need for regulation.
Entities are required to provide activity metric data between July – September of each year, relating to the most recent financial year end cycle.
ASIC uses this information to calculate an entity’s share of the regulatory costs for the financial year, and issues invoices between January – March for each leviable year.
Read more about IFM on our website.
Non-lodgement of financial reports (Form 388)
Some companies are required to meet their financial reporting obligations under the Corporations Act 2001. If a company fails to meet their reporting obligations, the company may be subjected to a compliance action.
ASIC may take further enforcement action to non-complying companies failing to lodge their financial reports.
Read more about our corporate compliance programs on our website.
Attention ASIC registered agents: meeting the eligibility requirements
As an ASIC registered agent, you agreed to the ASIC Registered Agent Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) which govern the use of our registry services.
To ensure you remain eligible to be a registered agent, and avoid any compliance action, you must adhere to the eligibility requirements. For example:
Is your ASIC agent registration under an Australian company?
If it is, you must ensure that the company is registered. If the company becomes deregistered or is in 'strike-off action' you will cease to meet the eligibility requirements and your registration may be terminated. Refer to clause 3.9 of the T&Cs.
Do you have a valid ABN to link to your ASIC agent registration?
If you do, you must provide the Australian Business Number (ABN) of the ASIC registered agent via Form RA01 (section B) and email the completed form to agent.registration@asic.gov.au.
For a full list of eligibility requirements, read the ASIC Registered Agent Terms and Conditions.
Which online system should I use?
The Business Registration Service (BRS) can be used to apply for all of your business and tax related registrations in one transaction.
Once registered, ASIC provides online services to maintain both business names and companies.
Business name holders and authorised lodgers
If you're a business name holder or authorised lodger, you can use ASIC Connect to manage your business name details.
Once you are registered for an ASIC Connect account, you can renew your existing registration or even register a new business name. You can also update your details, including business name holder details and business addresses.
If you have more than one business name, you can manage them all from the same account by linking each business name to your login using the ASIC Key.
Find out more about using ASIC Connect to update your business names.
Company officeholders and registered agents
If you're a company officeholder or registered agent, you can use our online services to manage your company details.
When you register for our online services, you'll be able to lodge documents online and view company information from your account. This includes your annual statement; company addresses and current officeholder details.
If you're an officeholder for more than one company, you’ll need to register for online access for each individual company.
If you manage both a business name and company, you will need to register for an ASIC Connect account as well as our online services for company officeholders or registered agents in order to manage both registrations.
Use the right key to manage your account
Corporate key and ASIC key may sound similar; however, each have a different use.
The corporate key is used to register a company for online access. Once registered, you'll be able to lodge documents online, receive company annual statements and view your company information. You can find your corporate key on the top right-hand corner of your latest company annual statement.
The ASIC key is used to link your business name to your ASIC Connect account.
One linked, you can view and maintain your business name details.
The ASIC key is sent to you each time you register a new business name or renew your existing registration. You can find your ASIC key in the middle of your welcome letter or renewal notice.
The corporate key and the ASIC key can't be used interchangeably. If you have a company and a business name, you'll need to use both at different times.
Missing payments
If you've made a payment and it's missing from your account, it could be for a number of reasons.
If you've paid a fee using a different reference number or paid multiple accounts in the same transaction, send us an online enquiry and include the following details:
- your reference number
- the incorrect reference number used (if applicable)
- account name
- date of payment
- amount paid, and
- proof of payment (e.g. bank statement).
This will allow us to allocate the payment to the correct account, and any late payment fees no longer applicable will be automatically cancelled.
Cyber security checklist
Protecting your business from cyber threats is crucial.
Scams, email attacks, and malicious software can cost a lot of time and money. They can also compromise your sensitive data and reputation.
Find out how cyber secure your business is and strengthen your business against cyber threats at business.gov.au.
Do you lodge your own tax return?
You need to lodge a tax return if you carried on a business – regardless of how much money you made or if you made a loss. If you’re not lodging your own return, you must engage with a tax agent by this due date. Find out more at ato.gov.au/sbtaxreturns.