Industry Update - Updated SERR advice from the Australian Tax Office

We have received new guidance from the Australian Tax Office regarding the reporting requirements for agents in the sharing economy. This marks a significant policy victory that ASTRA has been actively advocating for over the past several months.

Background

Under the sharing economy reporting regime (SERR), electronic distribution platforms (EDPs) need to report certain transactions that happen through their website/platform to the ATO.

An EDP is an electronic platform like a website or app, which allows suppliers to make supplies to end users, where those supplies are made by means of electronic communication. Effectively, they provide a service that facilitates transactions between 2 otherwise unrelated parties – the supplier and the end user.

A business making supplies through its own website is not an EDP. In that case, the platform operator is the supplier.


Agents and agency

Under the law of agency, an agent for a supplier is considered the supplier.

The term “agent” here refers to a legal relationship of agency, in which a principal enters into an agreement for an agent to act on their behalf. It is broader than just real estate agents, but we expect most real estate agents and other property managers would be considered agents for their clients.

If the client signs a contract saying they authorise you to act as their agent, that’s a good indication it’s a relationship of agency.

Where a property manager sets up their own website to lease out their clients’ properties, but rather than having an open sign-up process like Airbnb, they only list their clients’ properties who they act as agent for, they do not need to report under SERR.

They would not be considered an EDP, because as the agent, they are effectively the supplier.

If the property manager also lists those properties on the major platforms like Airbnb and Stayz, it’s Airbnb and Stayz that would need to report under SERR.  

This information hasn’t been updated on ato.gov.au/SERR yet (as of 24 May 2024) as the advice only came through to us recently, but updated web content is being drafted now. If members have any questions please contact sharingeconomyreporting@ato.gov.au.