From the 1^st of July 2012, the Australian Taxation Office requires businesses operating in the building and construction industry to report the total payments made to each contractor for building and construction services. The new report is known as the ‘Taxable Payments Annual Report’.

The business that is ‘purchasing’ the contract service is required to report the amounts paid and it only applies to business transactions and not to individuals who hire contractors for private purposes.

The details required on the report for each contractor are as follows:

-          Australian Business Number (ABN) of the contractor

-          Name of the contractor

-          Address of the contractor

-          Gross amount paid to the contractor for the year

-          Amount of GST paid

-          Alteration

-          Assembly

-          Demolition

-          Design

-          Erection

-          Improvement

-          Installation

-          Maintenance

-          Modification

-          Removal

-          Site preparation

For a full list of examples please visit; 

The report can be lodged online or on paper. Alternatively, tax agents can also lodge on behalf of those seeking assistance. The annual report needs to include aggregate totals for each of the contractors that you have made payments to during the financial year. Payments made for the supply of goods do not need to be included and nor do payments that have had tax withheld under the PAYG system (for employees). 

The first taxable payments annual report is due on the 21 July 2013 for payments made during the 2012-13 financial year.