24/01/2024
The Sharing Economy Reporting Regime (SERR) is a new requirement for platform businesses who provide services or hire personal assets through a website or an app. These businesses are known as electronic distribution platform (EDP) operators.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) states that, under SERR, an EDP is a service that:
- allows sellers to make supplies available to buyers (for example, guests booking accommodation or passengers booking car rides); and
- is delivered via electronic communication.
A seller is an entity that makes supplies via an EDP. A buyer is the end user of the supplies.
An EDP can be, but is not limited to:
- a website;
- internet portal;
- gateway;
- application;
- online store; or
- marketplace.
Platforms are not considered an EDP if they only provide:
- carriage services that transmit electronic communications;
- access to payment systems or payment processing services; or
- advertising that makes buyers aware of products and links them to a seller’s website.
The SERR requires EDPs to collect and report to the ATO certain details of service transactions. These include each seller’s:
- personal details (name and date of birth);
- contact details;
- business identifiers; and
- financial identifiers.
The imposition of the SERR may require EDPs to collect new categories or information that were not previously collected by those businesses.
The aim of the SERR is to boost public confidence in the integrity of the tax and superannuation systems, and to provide for greater regulatory compliance across a variety of business categories.
The SERR came into effect for taxi and rideshare service providers, and short-term accommodation providers, from 1 July 2023. For all other service providers in the sharing economy, the SERR will come into effect from 1 July 2024.
The SERR requires businesses to report this information for each half of the calendar year – that is, every six months.
For advice on how these changes could affect your organisation, please contact us at enquiries@griffinlegal.com.au