The ATO advised that it is upping the ante in relation to its field audits of small to medium enterprises (i.e., businesses) – usually referred to as 'SMEs'. 

For the first 12 months, only limited offices and teams would be involved, and after that SME field audits would become part of "business as usual".

The audits are scheduled to start in the first/second quarter of the 2012/13 financial year with the initial focus being in Melbourne and Brisbane.

Audit process

Phone contact would be made with a business and then a letter would be issued providing two weeks notice.

The audits themselves would then be conducted at the business premises and would take from one to two weeks to complete.

The Tax Office said that they will start with deductions and then move to other areas of interest.  However, every audit will start with a specific purpose.