TITLE: TPAR Deadline, Super Guarantee Charge, and ATO Data Matching: What Australian Businesses Must Know
Friday 28 August 2026 brings three important compliance messages for Australian businesses, contractors and international sellers.
The 2025–26 Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR) is due today. Employers who missed their quarter 4 superannuation deadline may also need to lodge and pay a Superannuation Guarantee Charge statement. At the same time, the ATO is expanding data matching across banking, digital platforms, online marketplaces and government agencies.
Treasury’s new Corporate Plan also signals the direction of future tax system improvements. The immediate lesson is clear: keep your records accurate, reconcile your reporting and act before deadlines become compliance problems.
Lodge Your 2025–26 TPAR Today
Submit the report electronically
The 2025–26 TPAR is due to the ATO by 28 August 2026.
You must lodge electronically through an accepted channel, such as:
- ATO Online services for business
- SBR-enabled accounting software
- Approved file transfer arrangements
- A registered tax or BAS practitioner
The ATO no longer accepts paper TPAR lodgments. This means you should not print and post the report if you have not yet lodged it.
A TPAR generally applies to businesses that make payments to contractors who provide services in relevant industries. These can include building and construction, cleaning, courier and road freight, information technology, security and investigation services.
Check the ATO’s guidance before lodging. The obligation depends on the services your business receives and the nature of the contractor payments.
Check every contractor record before submission
Before you lodge, reconcile:
- Contractor names and business names.
- ABNs and addresses.
- Total payments made during 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.
- GST amounts included in invoices.
- Payments made for materials, labour and other reportable services.
- Contractor invoices against your bank and bookkeeping records.
Use your accounting reports as a starting point. Then investigate unusual balances, duplicate supplier records and missing ABNs.
Accurate reporting matters because TPAR information now feeds into contractor tax returns.
Understand the new Tax Time 2026 pre-fill process
From Tax Time 2026, payments reported through TPAR can be pre-filled into eligible individual contractors’ tax returns.
However, most TPAR pre-fill information becomes available after 28 August, once businesses have lodged their reports and the ATO has processed the information.
If you are an individual contractor, consider waiting until after today before lodging your tax return. This may give you more complete pre-fill information and reduce the risk of:
- Omitting contractor income.
- Lodging amendments later.
- Repaying an incorrect refund.
- Creating inconsistencies between your tax return and payer records.
Do not rely on pre-fill alone. Verify the amounts against your invoices, bank statements, accounting software and other business records. You must include all assessable income, even if an amount does not appear in pre-fill.
Lodge a non-lodgment advice if required
If your business does not need to lodge a TPAR for 2025–26, you may need to submit a TPAR non-lodgment advice.
The non-lodgment advice is also due today. Submitting it helps prevent unnecessary ATO follow-up.
Do not confuse a TPAR non-lodgment advice with an individual income tax non-lodgment advice. They are separate obligations with different purposes.
Check Your Quarter 4 Superannuation Position
Lodge an SGC statement if super was late or unpaid
If you did not pay the required quarter 4 superannuation contributions in full and on time by 28 July 2026, you generally need to lodge a Superannuation Guarantee Charge statement.
The quarter covered 1 April to 30 June 2026. The SGC statement and payment are due today, 28 August 2026.
The charge can include:
- Superannuation shortfalls.
- Interest on the shortfall.
- An administration component.
Late contributions for this quarter cannot simply be used to offset the SGC in the same way as an on-time contribution.
Review your payroll reports and super payment confirmations immediately. If an employee’s fund received the contribution after 28 July, treat the position carefully and calculate the charge correctly.
Lodging the statement and paying the charge promptly helps you avoid additional penalties and demonstrates that you are correcting the missed obligation.
Prepare for More Extensive ATO Data Matching
Keep BAS, tax returns and platform data consistent
The ATO uses data matching throughout the year. It receives more than 600 million transactions annually from banks, financial institutions, AUSTRAC, online selling platforms, digital platforms and other government agencies.
The ATO also uses more than 60 identity-matching techniques to connect third-party information with the correct taxpayer or business.
This activity affects more than traditional retailers. It is relevant to:
- Ecommerce brands selling through Shopify, Amazon, eBay, Etsy and other platforms.
- Digital businesses, including SaaS companies and agencies.
- Contractors and service providers.
- Australian companies trading across borders.
- Overseas businesses selling goods or digital services to Australian consumers.
- Businesses receiving payments through multiple merchant facilities.
Your records should tell one consistent story across your BAS, income tax return, bookkeeping system and third-party platform reports.
Review online marketplace reporting
The ATO’s online selling data-matching program covers marketplace sellers with annual trading activity of A$12,000 or more within the program parameters.
This figure is a data-matching program threshold. It is not the same as the general GST registration threshold.
Review your marketplace information for:
- Gross sales before platform fees.
- Refunds and cancelled orders.
- Shipping and delivery charges.
- Foreign currency receipts.
- GST collected.
- Marketplace commissions.
- Sales made to Australian and overseas customers.
Do not record only the net amount paid into your bank account. Platform fees and refunds must be recorded correctly so that your turnover and GST reporting are accurate.
Check offshore merchant GST obligations
The ATO’s Offshore Merchant data-matching program covers the 2024–25 to 2026–27 financial years.
The program uses aggregate transaction data from ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac to identify offshore businesses that may be supplying:
- Digital services to Australian consumers.
- Digital products and software.
- Low-value imported goods.
- Other goods and services subject to GST.
