Common compliance mistakes to avoid

Mixing business and personal money

Running personal spending through the business account — or business spending through the personal card — is the root of a remarkable share of compliance problems. It muddies the records, makes deductions hard to substantiate, and for companies can create loan issues with real tax consequences.

The fix costs nothing: separate accounts, and a disciplined habit of paying yourself properly rather than dipping in. Your bookkeeper will thank you, and so will your tax bill.

Treating lodgement dates as suggestions

Activity statements, tax returns and super lodgements all carry due dates, and the penalties for missing them are automatic rather than personal. A late BAS is a straightforward way to pay more than you owe for no benefit at all.

Lodging on time matters even when you cannot pay on time. The ATO is generally far more willing to arrange payment plans with businesses that lodge promptly and communicate early than with those that go quiet.

The superannuation trap

Employee superannuation is the strictest deadline in the calendar. Paid on time, it is a routine, deductible cost of employing people. Paid late — even slightly — it can stop being deductible and trigger the superannuation guarantee charge, which adds interest and administration fees and cannot be claimed as a deduction.

The habit that prevents this is simple: treat super like wages. It is the employees' money, it goes out on a fixed schedule, and it is never the bill that waits when cash is tight.

Records that would not survive a review

A deduction without a record is a deduction you may not get to keep. The standard is not onerous — but it is real, and it is much easier to meet at the time than to reconstruct years later.

• Capture receipts as they happen

  Photograph or forward receipts into your accounting software the day you get them. The shoebox method fails precisely when it matters.

• Keep a logbook where one is needed

  Vehicle claims are among the most commonly reviewed deductions, and a valid logbook is what separates an accepted claim from a disallowed one.

• Document the unusual

  One-off transactions — asset sales, loans to or from the business, family dealings — deserve a note explaining what happened while the details are fresh.

Going quiet when something goes wrong

The worst response to a missed lodgement or a mistake in a return is silence. Errors can be corrected, returns can be amended, and voluntary disclosure is treated far more gently than discovery. If something has gone wrong, tell your accountant early — the options are always better before the ATO raises it first.