Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and CPA Australia have made a joint submission to the Senate Select committee on COVID 19 regarding impact on accountants of implementing the COVID 19 stimulus measures.  The submission highlights that around 95% of Australian businesses use a tax agent and that the complexity of the stimulus measures and the self assessment regime meant that businesses were reliant of their advisers to access government support. 

This additional work load has meant that tax professional were wholly diverted from planned tax work and business advisory services and as a consequence tax compliance and end of year tax planning has been delay by around eight weeks, pushing many time critical decisions and lodgements beyond 30 June 2020. 

The submission recommends that future design proposals involving adjustments to COVID-19 stimulus measures and the delivery of benefits through the tax system should consider using either an ATO-assessed approach where the ATO identifies eligible recipients and automatically disburses funds or include the provision of funds to small businesses to support their access to appropriate professional advice.