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EOFY “is like Christmas” to scammers with $7.2 million stolen from vulnerable computers last year.
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Be alert for tax fraudsters, small business warned
08 June 2022
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Small businesses and their employees needed to be on high alert for tax scammers after more than $7.2 million was stolen from home computers last July, said one software specialist.
The managing director of small and medium business at SAP Concur, Fabian Calle, said that while businesses might be focusing on maximising their deductions, scammers are going after them and their employees.
“Unfortunately, EOFY is also like Christmas to unscrupulous actors who take advantage of business owners and their employees through highly targeted, tax-related scams,” said Mr Calle.
“With many employees now working either part-time or full-time from their home office, this creates a significant risk for Australian businesses.”
After the tumultuous past years Mr Calle said that businesses needed to make sure they were on top of their tax returns, particularly with the increasing scrutiny by the ATO post the pandemic.
“Australian businesses have done it tough over the past few years with the combined impacts of sustained business interruptions caused by COVID-19, ongoing market volatility, and floods,” he said.
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“Many organisations are doing their best just to keep the doors open and ATO compliance is a necessary factor, even though business resources may be stretched at this time.
“Increased ATO scrutiny on record keeping, work-related expenses, rental property income, and capital gains means the 2022 EOFY process is likely to be more time consuming and complex for most organisations compared to previous years.”
SAP Concur has released a 2022 EOFY checklist designed to help businesses with their end-of-financial year processes.
The checklist highlights the need to review record-keeping tasks, ensure business financial information complies with current tax requirements, and be aware of tax-time scams that target small and medium-sized businesses.
The checklist also provides information on how businesses can get off to a fast start to the 2023 financial year by reviewing their overall position and determining where automation can improve efficiencies.
Mr Calle said that embracing automation would help businesses recover from the pandemic faster and grow in future.
“Businesses that can redefine processes and improve operational efficiencies through automation are likely to recover and move to growth much faster than those that continue to rely on manual processes,” said Mr Calle.
“EOFY should be as simple as any other report a business needs to produce and, instead, provide the focus needed to drive growth in the coming financial year. This is something that automation will increasingly deliver as cloud capabilities continue to evolve.”
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