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The ATO is urging small businesses that have overdue income tax returns, fringe benefits tax returns or business activity statements to take advantage of its amnesty to get back on track with their tax obligations if they have fallen behind. 
 
The amnesty applies to tax obligations that were originally due between 1 December 2019 and 28 February 2022 and runs from 1 June 2023 to 31 December 2023. 
To be eligible for the amnesty, the small business must be an entity with an aggregated turnover of less than $10 million at the time the original lodgment was due. 
 
During this time, eligible small businesses can lodge their eligible overdue forms and the ATO will then proactively remit any associated failure to lodge (FTL) penalties. 
When forms are lodged with the ATO under the amnesty, businesses or their tax professionals will not need to separately request a remission of FTL penalties. 
 
The ATO also encourage all businesses to lodge any overdue forms even if they are outside the eligibility period. Whilst forms outside the amnesty eligibility criteria will attract FTL penalties, the ATO will consider your circumstances and may remit such penalties on a case-by-case basis. 
 
The amnesty applies to income tax returns, business activity statements, and fringe benefits tax returns.