ATO forms updates
Thomson Reuters has updated the ATO forms in ONESOURCE Corporate Tax and Trusts to a “workbook” style interface instead of the traditional PDF format.
ATO approval and compliance
Our development team continues using the ATO's pro forma PDF forms and SBR specifications to design and develop this improved layout. While the look and feel may differ slightly, we ensure that:
- We include all labels contained in the PDF forms
- We maintain cross-linking and referencing of information
- We adhere to the ATO's SBR specifications required for electronic lodgement
- The ATO will accept the new ONESOURCE forms via paper, as they did with the previous PDF forms
Impact on tax return preparation
Users can continue to use ONESOURCE Corporate Tax and Trusts to prepare and lodge their tax returns.
For Manual Forms template users, this change unlocks significant efficiencies by enabling bulk data import for multiple entities into the ATO forms. The Thomson Reuters team will provide you with a new import file and detailed instructions.
Reason for the change
The ATO prioritizes digital SBR lodgements. They recommend using electronic lodgement first. Paper returns should only be submitted when electronic lodgement isn't available. The ATO's digital-first strategy is evident in recent years, with many returns—such as the AMIT tax return—only lodgeable electronically via SBR.
Since the ATO defaults to electronic lodgements, Thomson Reuters has aligned our software design to reflect this digital-first strategy. As a trusted market leader, we continually innovate and enhance our solutions to help tax professionals run better businesses and future-proof their tax compliance.
Benefits of the new ATO forms layout
- Save time by bulk importing data for multiple entities into the new ATO forms
- A cleaner, more consistent user interface—all schedules and returns display uniformly with a streamlined design for easier review
- Easier navigation—view more information on 1 screen instead of toggling between multiple PDF pages
- Enables reporting and data extraction capabilities that were not previously available with the PDF style forms
- Better adherence to ATO's SBR electronic lodgement requirements, which can differ from PDF forms. Example: Trust Tax return question 14 allows only 1 income type on PDF, but SBR supports up to 50 income types, now enterable via multiple rows in the streamlined workpaper approach
Instructions and commentary
We understand our clients rely on the instructions and commentary in the PDF forms, and we’ve ensured this information remains available. In the “S1 Preliminary Information” statement, you can select “Show Form Instructions” to display this information.
Paper lodgement
The ATO is rapidly moving towards a digital preferred strategy and is prioritizing the electronic lodgement of tax returns using their SBR specifications.
However, the ATO will accept the new forms in ONESOURCE via paper, as they accepted the previous PDF style forms. In both instances where you generate a tax return using software and lodge it via paper, the ATO manually enters and processes the data.