Business & Regulatory Updates

ATO Credit Card Payments Extended Until 30 June 2027

In welcome news, the Federal Government has directed the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to continue accepting direct credit card payments for tax liabilities until 30 June 2027. 

The ATO had previously announced that is would disallow credit card payments from 30 November 2026, after the ban on passing on credit card surcharges was implemented on 1 October 2026. 

What this means for you:

• You can continue to pay income tax, BAS, PAYG withholding and other ATO liabilities by credit card until 30 June 2027. 
• After 30 June 2027, the ATO is expected to discontinue direct credit card payments, with taxpayers instead needing to utilise alternative payment methods such as Bpay or Electronic Funds Transfer.  

For many companies and individuals, the ability to earn reward points and preserve cash flow through credit cards remains a valuable planning tool over the next eight months.

AML Laws Now Apply to Accountants, Lawyers and Real Estate Agents

The Australian Government has expanded Australia’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) regime to cover a range of professional service providers, including:

• Accountants
• Lawyers
• Conveyancers
• Real estate agents

What does this mean?

Businesses operating in these industries will be required to:

• Verify client identities and undertake customer due diligence
• Assess and manage money laundering and terrorism financing risks
• Implement and maintain AML/CTF compliance programs
• Monitor and report suspicious matters and certain transactions
• Retain records and evidence of compliance activities

How does this impact you?

You can expect increased requests for identification and supporting documentation when engaging professional advisers to complete certain tasks, including but not limited to: 

• Establishing a company or trust
• Buying or selling shares in a private company
• Re-structuring a business
• Buying or selling real estate
• Having an agent hold money on your behalf
• Providing a registered office address for your company

You may be required to provide personal identification information, along with information regarding your sources of income and assets, to allow the service provider to conduct a risk analysis and carry out their customer due diligence. 

Meeting these government imposed compliance obligations will unfortunately be an additional administrative burden on both service providers and clients. 

NSW Workers Compensation Reform

The NSW Government has made changes to the workers compensation legislation, in an attempt to make the scheme more sustainable over the longer term.

Penalties

Penalties for employers that do not have a workers compensation policy, or provide false information, have been increased. Generally an employer in NSW is required to hold a workers compensation policy if they pay wages of more than $7,500 in a financial year.

Psychological Injury Claims

There are also changes to eligibility, entitlements and claims processes for psychological injury claims. A psychological injury will not be compensable if the significant cause is reasonable management action, such as performance appraisal, transfer, demotion, redeployment, promotion, dismissal, misconduct investigations, disciplinary action and redundancy processes.

Reasonable & Necessary Treatment

From 1 October 2026, medical and related treatment expenses compensable through the scheme must be “reasonable and necessary”. Treatment must primarily treat the compensable injury, be clinically justified, and represent value for money.

For more detail on these changes, please see https://www.sira.nsw.gov.au/workers-compensation/workers-compensation-reforms