Standard business reporting ATO Bus Reg 2017 Business Implementation Guide

Standard Business Reporting
Australian Taxation Office –
Business Registrations
Business Implementation Guide
Date:07July2017
Production Release - suitable for useDraft for consultationCandidate Release
This document and its attachments are Unclassified /
For further information or questions, contact the SBR Service Desk at or call 1300 488 231. International callers may use +61-2-6216 5577

VERSION CONTROL

Version / Release date / Description of changes
0.1 to 0.22 / Not released / Internal updates to prepare for exposure to software developers.
0.23 / 29/09/2016 / First version exposed to software developers.
1.0 / 23/02/2017 /
  • Corrected related exception number name from:
ABRREG to ABNREG
ABRKEY to AUSKEY
ABRATR to ABNREGTAXADD
ABRSTS to ABNREGSTS
ABRHLP to ABNREGHLP
ABRGET to ABNREGDTL
ABRQST to ABNREGENT
  • Added business rule 71375 and 71377 to Section 15.3.1
  • Add ‘related field in error’ to Section 15
  • Updated Appendix B Business Activity Algorithm
  • Updated Section 3.5 Registration Attempts and Section 16.4 Response outcomes to include content on result of exceeding registration submit attempts.
  • Added new column in Section 15 to identify rule type.
  • Removed Issue #3 as issue has been resolved.
  • Add business rule 72174 (Co-operative naming rule) to Section 15.3.1
  • Updated rule 29094 to allow hyphens in names.
  • Removed rules 29724/70545, 39467, 71892, 72122 as internal rule only
  • Removed rule 60156
  • Removed rule 71937
  • Update Constraint #14 with applications not accepted after third attempt to submit application.
  • Remove ‘Corporate Unit Trust’ as a valid organisation type.
  • Added known issue regarding org type for Corporate Unit Trust
  • Updated associate requirements for Limited Partnerships
  • Removed rules for telephone area code field length
  • Section 15: Rearranged business rules into UI validation and on submit rule types and added content on how to implement.
  • Included known issue #5 for ignoring field ABNREGAXADD93 in ADDTAXROLE API.
  • Added rule 72029 to Section 15.3.1
  • Added in tax role help urls to Section 16.7
  • Added section 3.8 for ABN reapplications
  • Added content regarding requirements for Pre application acknowledgements

2.0 / 16/03/2017 /
  • Added business rule for Limited partnerships in Section 15.3.1 and updated associate requirements in Section 16.3
  • Clarified registration attempts outcomes
  • Section 9.6 Tax Time 17 Simpler BAS, effective from 1 July 2017.
  • New known issue added to section 14 - Now mandatory for overseas addresses to enter suburb/town/locailityeffective from 1 July 2017.

2.1 /
  • Added business rule 72931 Main Activity ID. Section 15.3.1
  • Removed business rule 71131 as redundant
  • Clarify registration attempts/outcomes Sections 3.6 and 16.4
  • Correct ABNREG MST element required for short form (ABNREG52)
  • CorrectedRelated Field for rule 72031 Section 15.3.1
  • Updated rule 29821 to UI Validation type Section 15.3.1
  • Updated rules 28781, 29076, 29081, 29096, 29716, Section 15.3.1 to not allow four or more contiguous characters
  • Updated rules 29821, 71337 to allow ‘trustee’ in name field. Section 15.3.1
  • Added new rule 72385 for reapplication scenario. Section 15.3.1
  • Updated rule 71931 to include Requester Ref ID. Section 15.3.1

2.2 / 07/07/2017 /
  • Update rule 54861 – email address is mandatory. The related exception is 46143
  • Updates to exceptions 96451 and 96465 – waiting on additional info before these are added
  • ABR allowing ABN registration for a compromised TFN
  • BCR 1953 pre entitlement checklist update
  • Update to Rule 28774
  • Update to registration check status
  • BCR 1162 Update to Overseas Locality Validation – waiting for info from PSS
  • Removed business rule 71943
  • Update Tax Role rules – waiting on info from Karen Jackson
  • Update to Rule 30543
  • Tax time changes GST LRE text update
  • Update rule 184 in 15.5.9 FBT Registration
  • Update to section 11 text – as provided by Natalie Hughes and Karen Jackson

ENDORSEMENT

APPROVAL

Kelvin BaggsProjectManager

Streamlining Business Registration Project

Australian Taxation Office

Copyright

© Commonwealth of Australia 2017 (see exceptions below).
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You must include this copyright notice in all copies of this Information and Material which you create. If you modify, adapt or prepare derivative works of the Information and Material, the notice must still be included but you must add your own copyright statement to your modification, adaptation or derivative work which makes clear the nature of your modification, adaptation or derivative work and you must include an acknowledgement that the adaptation, modification or derivative work is based on Commonwealth or SBR Agency owned Information and Material. Copyright in SBR Agency specific aspects of the SBR Reporting Taxonomy is owned by the relevant SBR Agency.

Version 2.2UnclassifiedPAGE1 OF 151

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.Introduction

1.1Purpose

1.2Audience

1.3Document Context

1.4Glossary

2.What are the Business Registration Interactions?

2.1Register an entity in the Australian Business Register

2.2Register an entity for tax role obligations

2.3Register an entity for AUSkey

3.ABN Registration

3.1Pre Application Checks

3.2Organisation type

3.3Entitlement

3.3.1ABN Entitlement Questions and Outcomes

3.3.2Registration Requirements

3.4Identity

3.4.1Identity outcomes

3.5Business details

3.5.1Names

3.5.2Addresses

3.5.3Associates

3.5.4Authorised contact details

3.5.5Organisation specific requirements

3.5.6Business Activity Details

3.5.7Reason for Applying for an ABN

3.6Registration Attempts

3.7ABNREG Response message

3.8ABN Re-applications

4.Tax file number (Non-individual)

5.Tax Role Obligations

5.1Goods and Services Tax

5.2Financial Institution Account

5.3Fuel Tax Credits

5.4Luxury Car Tax

5.5Wine Equalisation Tax

5.6Pay as You Go Withholding

5.7Fringe Benefits Tax

5.8FBT Financial Institution Account

6.AUSkey

7.Get Help Context

8.Privacy Statement

9.Wording Requirements

9.1Pre application acknowledgments

9.1.1 Mandatory wording

9.2Declarations

9.2.1Suggested wording

9.2.2Examples of Declarations:

9.3Successful Business Registration

9.4Application in Work item

9.5Application Refused

10.Get Business Details

11.Check Business Registration Status

12.Channels

13.Constraints

13.1ABN Entitlement

13.2Identity

13.3Contact Data

13.4Business Registration

13.5Add Tax Role Applications

13.6Request AUSkey Application

14.Known Issues

15.Business Rules

15.1Requirements for Business Registration – Entity is entitled

15.2Requirements for Business Registration – Entity is not entitled

15.3Business Registration

15.3.1ABN and TFN registration

15.3.2GST Registration

15.3.3FTC Registration

15.3.4LCT Registration

15.3.5WET Registration

15.3.6PAYGW Registration

15.3.7FBT Registration

15.3.8AUSkey Registration

15.4Standalone AUSkey Registration

15.5Add Tax Roles

15.5.1Common business rules for all tax roles

15.5.2Entity information

15.5.3Contact data validation

15.5.4PAYG withholding Registration

15.5.5GST Registration

15.5.6FTC Registration

15.5.7LCT Registration

15.5.8WET Registration

15.5.9FBT Registration

15.6Registration Status

15.7Help Content

15.8Get Business Registration Details

15.9Get Entitlement Questionnaire

16.Appendices

16.1Appendix A Organisation Types

16.2Appendix B Business Activity algorithm

16.3Appendix C Associate Requirements

16.4Appendix D Response Outcomes

16.5Appendix E TARN Algorithm

16.6Appendix F Special Requirement for Government Agencies

16.7Appendix G Help Context URLs

16.8Appendix H Entitlement Outcome

  1. Introduction

1.1Purpose

The purpose of this document is to provide information that will assist software developers in understanding the business context surrounding business registrationweb service interactions. These interactions are performed with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the Australian Business Register (ABR).

Specifically, business registration refers to the interactions with the ATO for a user, depending on their role, to:

  • Register an entity inthe Australian Business Register
  • Register an entity for a tax file number (non-individual only)
  • Register an entity for the following tax roles:
  • Goods and Services Tax (GST)
  • Fuel Tax Credits (FTC)
  • Luxury Car Tax (LCT)
  • Wine Equalisation Tax (WET)
  • Pay As You Go (PAYG) withholding
  • Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT)
  • Register for an AUSkey (Administrator)

This document defines the interactions that are available to users to:

  • lodge business registrations (including ABN, Non-individual TFN, GST, FTC, LCT, WET, PAYGwithholding, FBT, AUSkey),
  • lodge tax role registrations (including GST, FTC, LCT, WET, PAYGwithholding and FBT)
  • lodge AUSkey applications
  • check ABN entitlement,
  • check business registration status
  • get business details
  • get help context

andexplains any constraints and known issues with the use of these interactions.

1.2Audience

The audience for this document is any organisation that will be implementing the ATO Business Registration interactionsinto their products.Typically this will be software application developers and business analysts.

1.3Document Context

The ATO Business Registrations Business Implementation Guide forms part of the broader suite of documents used by the ATO to describe or interpret how the technical implementation relates back to the business context and process.This document is designed to be read in conjunction with the ATO SBR documentation suite including the:

  • Web service/platform informationeg SBR Web Service Implementation Guide
  • Service information eg ATO Message Implementation Guide
  • Message information eg Message Structure Table, and
  • Test information eg Conformance suites

See the SBR high level document map for the relationship of this document with others in the suite.

1.4Glossary

This table only contains terms that need specific explanation for this document. Otherterminology can be found in the SBR glossary.

Term / Definition
ABN / Australian business number
A unique public 11 digit number issued to all entities registered in the ABR that identifies a business or organisation to the government and community.
ABR / Australian Business Register
The ABR is an extensive database of business identity information on all ABN-registered entities.
ACN / Australian company number
A unique 9 digit number issued by Australian Securities and Investments (ASIC) to every company in Australia that is registered under the Corporations Act 2001.
ANZSIC / Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification
The standard classification used by both the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and Statistics New Zealand to classify statistical units by industry in official statistics.
It is used by the ABS in a wide range of data collection methods requiring industry type analysis – this includes production, distribution and other economic statistics, demographic and social statistics, and national income statistics.
API / Application programming interface
A set of public function calls to access a component.
ARBN / Australian registered body number
A unique 9 digit number issued by ASIC to every registrable Australian body. A registrable Australian body is a body corporate (other than a corporation under the Corporations Act 2001 – see ACN) which has been formed or incorporated in Australia.
ARSN / Australian registered scheme number
A unique 9 digit number issued by ASIC to Australian managed investment schemes.
Associate / An individual or other entity that, by reason of family or business connections, might appropriately be regarded as being an associate of a particular entity.
Associate requirements / For each organisation type there are specific requirements for the number and type of associates.
The Registrar decides which associate details are required for each entity type.
Authentication / The process of confirming the identity of an individual eg through the use of an AUSkey.
Authorisation / The process of allowing individuals the ability to carry out certain functions eg giving a person the authority to submit a particular type of transaction on behalf of a business.
Authorised contacts / Person/s authorised by the entity to make changes to a business registration.
ATO / Australian Taxation Office
The ATO administers the federal tax system. Itsresponsibility is to collect the revenue that is correctly payable under the law.
AUSkey / A secure login that identifies when a registered contact uses participating government online services on behalf of a business.
AUSkey applicant / The person/individual behind the computer/device that identifies themselves as an individual sole trader or eligible associate of an entity.
BIC / Business Industry Code
The Business Industry Codes are based on the ANZSIC classification, but include another level of detail (5th digit) that distinguishes a certain trait or a focuses on certain industries within an ANZSIC class.
BMS / Business management system
Set of policies, practices, procedures, and processes used in developing and deploying strategies, their execution, and all associatedmanagementactivity.
Business / An entity such as an individual or an organisation designated by an ABN.
Business registration / Registrations including ABN, TFN, AUSkey, tax roles (GST, FTC, PAYGwithholding, LCT, WET, FBT)
Call Reference Identifier / pyid.02.11:Identifiers.CallReference.Identifier
This identifier is included in the response message when the ATO/ABR has processed a request message from an API consumer. This identifier will be issued for audit logging purposes and is expected to be kept by the API consumer and used in all the subsequent API requests for a business registration.
Client / Any individual or organisation that interacts with the ATO.
Declaration person / The person who signs the declaration. Digitally this is donewith an electronic signature attesting to the accuracy of the information that has been supplied in the application.
Eligible associate/ Eligible individual / To register for an Administrator AUSkey, the AUSkey applicant (ie the person behind the computer) needs to be recorded on an ABN in the ABR as one of the associates listed below.
  • Trustee
  • Public Officer
  • Director
  • Partner
  • Office Bearer of a club/association
Individuals/Sole traders can also register for an Administrator AUSkey.
Entitlement questionnaire / A set of questions to assist the assessment of entitlement to an ABN,
The set of questions is based on the business structure of the main applicant.
EOI / Evidence of Identity:
The process of assessing proof of identity of an entity and the entity’s associates to meet the ABR’s minimum level of assurance regarding identity.
Fail / Where a business registration is said to ‘fail’ means that the lodgment was received and processed, however exceptions have been raised and these exceptions will be sent back to the consuming service or the application is suspended within the back end system.
FBT / Fringe benefits tax
A tax on benefitsan employer provides to their employees in place of salary or wages such as, health insurance, school fees andholiday expenses.
FTC / Fuel tax credits
Fuel tax credits provide businesses with a credit for the fuel tax included in the price of fuel they use in a range of business activities, plant, equipment and heavy vehicles.
GST / Goods and services tax
GST is abroad-based tax of 10% on most supplies of goods andservices consumedin the indirect tax zone.
Indirect Tax Zone / ‘Indirect tax zone’ means Australia but does not include the external territories and certain offshore areas.
The GST, WET and LCT operate in the indirect tax zone; they do not operate in Australian external territories and in certain offshore areas.
Individual / A natural person (that is, a human being).
Integrated Client Account Branch / Is used to hold certain registration information relating to the client’s business structure and operation. It also provides a single account through which clients fulfil certain tax obligations.
Intermediary / A person or organisation which acts as the middleman between clients and the ATO eg tax agents.
LCT / Luxury car tax
LCT applies to all supplies and importations of luxury cars where the value (including GST) exceeds the LCT threshold.
Main applicant / applicant / The entity applying for a business registration – this is not the individual behind the computer/device.
The main applicant can be an individual or a non-individual.
Obligation / A requirement for a client to produce information to the ATO, mandated either by legislation or other statutory requirement.
Organisation type / Lower level business structure eg Australian Public Company, Self-Managed Superannuation Fund (see ‘Tax Applicant’ for higher level business structure)
PAYGwithholding / Pay as you go withholding
PAYG withholding requires the withholding of amounts from payments to payees and sending of the withheld amounts to the ATO.
POI / Proof of Identity:
The act of a client proving they are who they say they are by quoting or writing a piece of information that is deemed to be acceptable evidence of identity—for example, their tax file number (TFN). POI is established when a client produces the required evidence of identity.
PORO / Proof of record ownership
A record identifier and a number of items of proof are used to authenticate an individual, before establishing the information they are authorised to access or change.
Clients will be required to provide at least two factors of authentication – something they know, something they have and something they are.
Refusal / Where an applicant has failed the entitlement to an ABN either as a result of the entitlement questionnaire outcome or failed to provide sufficient evidence of identity.
Reject / Where an application is incomplete and is not accepted by the receiving system interface.
SBR / Standard Business Reporting
SBR is a standard approach to online or digital record-keeping that was introduced by government in 2010 to simplify business reporting obligations.
Stem / In linguistics, a stem is a part of a word. In one usage, a stem is a form which affixes can be attached.

SWD / Software developer
TAN
TARN / Tax agent number / Tax agent register number
A unique number allocated to tax agents when they are registered by the Tax Practitioners Board.
Tax applicant type / High level business structures eg Individual, Company, Superannuation Entity, Trust, Partnership
Transaction / A unit of work for client or ATO business services. For example a business registration lodgment.
TFN / Tax file number
A TFN is a unique 9 digit number issued by ATO to individuals and organisations to help the ATO administer tax and other Australian Government systems.
User / Any person who uses software to interact with the ATO. Users can include individuals, businesses, companies, tax agents or other tax practitioners.
Validation / The process of ensuring that the data sent in is clean and correct before forwarding the data on for processing.
WET / Wine equalisation tax
WET only applies to wine manufacturers, wholesalers, and importers. Retailers do not have a WET liability unless they make wholesale sales or bottle their own wine.
  1. What are theBusiness RegistrationInteractions?

Business registration interactions can be used in order for a business to successfully register with the ATO and ABR.

The services have been developed to assist API consumers in developing a user experience that allows for validations to be performed prior to submitting the final registration application.

The business registration services MUST only be used for the purpose of registering a business with the ATO and ABR.

The table below lists all the interactions that are available in the business registration process: