Customer contact regarding trusts and companies program review 043-04160040

Each year, all trusts and companies will be subject to Service Profiling and a risk rating will be applied. The trust or company's risk rating will determine whether a program review is required. If a program review is initiated, it will coincide with the lodgement of the income tax return (ITR) with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), as advised by the customer on the Private Company form (MOD PC) or Private Trust form (MOD PT).

An initial request for the current financial statements is sent automatically to the contact person nominated by the customer on the MOD PT and MOD PC form. Note: the contact person may be a professional (such as an accountant or solicitor), or another person such as the trustee of the trust, director of the company, customer's nominee, or the customer.

The review is needed to determine if the customer's attribution percentage has changed from the last assessment and to update the income and assets of the trust or company. A Complex Assessment Officer (CAO) will complete all initiated program reviews.

It is important that when the tax return and financial statements are returned that they are scanned onto the company or trust's record, not the customer's record. This will ensure that the documentation is automatically transferred to the CAO region code, ensuring there is no delay with the review being finalised on the Future Activity List (FAL) screen and preventing the contact officer receiving an unnecessary additional request.

If there is no response to the initial request within 35 days, a second request will automatically be sent to the contact person and, in addition, a letter will also be sent to each of the current customers linked to the trust or company record. The letter to the customers will state that a review is in progress and that the initial request to the nominated contact person was not responded to.

If the second request to the nominated contact person is not answered within 28 days a third request is sent to each of the customers linked to the trust or company record, stating that a review is still in progress and the initial and second requests have not been responded to. This will also advise that the customer's payment will be suspended within 28 days from the date of the letter if the documentation is not supplied.

If no response is received within the next 28 days of the third request the customer's payments/concessions will be automatically suspended. If payments/concessions are still suspended after 13 weeks they will be automatically cancelled.

Note: residential aged care customers will not be cancelled. An activity will be produced alerting Service Officers to follow-up the return of the documents requested.